Why do Americans Celebrate Labor Day?

This week learn about the origins Labor Day and why Americans still celebrate it today.
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In the United States, Labor Day falls on the first Monday in September, and is often associated with the beginning of the school year, fashion rules about white clothing, and end-of-summer sales. But the often-forgotten origins of Labor Day lie in the Labor Movement, which sought to promote the rights of workers following the Industrial Revolution.
By the second half of the 19th century, manufacturing had become the dominant source of employment in the U.S., and with it came extremely poor and unregulated working conditions. Because individual workers were dispensable, employers could hire children, provide an unsafe and unsanitary working environment, and cut workers’ benefits and pay at will. However, as individual workers began to unite together and form labor unions, they were able to successfully negotiate labor contracts and lobby for federal regulations. One such labor union was the Central Labor Union, which organized the first Labor Day celebrations in 1882 in New York City, although it still unclear who first proposed the idea. On September 5th of that year, 10,000 workers from various unions in the area paraded through lower Manhattan. Following the parade was a party that included speeches, a picnic, and copious amounts of beer.
The idea of a holiday to honor and encourage the workers of the Labor Movement quickly gained popularity, and each year more communities began celebrating Labor Day in early September. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to officially adopt the holiday, with several other states to follow. Around the same time, annual remembrances in early May of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago were gaining traction as well. In 1889, the International Socialist Conference built upon these annual remembrances and declared May 1st an international holiday to commemorate the heroes of the Labor Movement. This holiday evolved into International Workers’ Day, which is still celebrated in many countries today. However, due to its socialist associations, International Workers’ Day fell out of favor in the United States during the early days of the Cold War.
It wasn’t until 1894 that Labor Day gained nationwide recognition in the US. In June of that year, Eugene V. Debs, one of the most well-known labor leaders and head of the American Railroad Union, called for a strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company, in response to the mistreatment of its workers. Transportation ground to a halt, and when a small group of strikers began destroying railroad property, Attorney General Richard Olney requested that federal troops be sent to Chicago to break the strike. President Grover Cleveland sent troops soon after, setting off riots that killed over a dozen workers. News of the strike and riots gripped the nation, and public opinion came out in support of the mistreated workers. In response to the unrest, Congress quickly passed legislation to officially adopt Labor Day as a federal holiday, and the act was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894. Ever since, the first Monday in September has been dedicated to the celebration and remembrance of the heroes of the Labor Movement in the United States, who sacrificed their time, their financial security, and sometimes their lives, to improve the country and protect the rights of its workers.

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