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Blue colar workers did not profited from slavery. The interests of free labor were one of reasons for slavery opposition. Blue colar worker can't compete with slave (or ther slaveholder using slave).

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White blue collar workers benefited (or believed that they benefited) from racial exclusion. That's why many labor unions in US were white-only, and supported segregation:

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/labor-unions-and...

(note the date)

There is massive difference between racial exclusion (where blacks cant perform work) and slavery (where they are forced to perform the work for zero compensation and thus are cheaper).

I wanted to disagree with that one specific point.

You're compressing history; "blue collar" didn't exist during slavery.

I took it as labor people - those who do manual work for compensation. Field, work, carpenter, etc. It did existed during that time period in states where slavery was not legal.

There was much less of it in states where slavery was legal.

Blue collar workers in the North definitely benefited from slavery in the form of lower cost of living as many items were imported from the South to the North. Also cheaper imports for northern manufacturing increased the value of norther labor.

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