History of Labor Day

1. The History of
Labor Day
A curious holiday

2. By Guillermina Geracitano, Julia Gómez, Ezequiel
Plumari, Matias Carrizo.
Students of 6º3º, EES Nº1.
PROF. LIDIA REGALMUTO

3. Historical
Background
In the late 1800s, many Americans toiled 12 hours a day,
seven days a week, often in physically demanding, low-
paying jobs. Children worked too, on farms and in
factories and mines.
Conditions were often harsh and unsafe.
As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as
the wellspring of American employment, labor unions,
which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more
prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and
rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to
renegotiate hours and pay.
The American labor movement during this time also
included a radical faction of socialists, communists and
anarchists who believed the capitalist system should be
dismantled because it exploited workers. A number of these
labor radicals were immigrants, many of them from
Germany.

4. IMPORTANT EVENTS
5th September
1882
The First Labor
Day Holiday
4th May
1886
Haymarket Riot
21 February
1887
The First
Governmental
Recognition
11 May
1894
Pullman Strike
28 June
1894
The Congress
approves the legal
holiday

5. 5TH SEPTEMBER, 1882
The First Labor Day
Holiday
On Sept. 5, 1882 — a Tuesday — 10,000
workers took unpaid time off to march in
a parade from City Hall to Union Square
in New York City as a tribute to American
workers. Organized by New York’s Central
Labor Union, It was the country’s first
unofficial Labor Day parade.

6. 5TH SEPTEMBER, 1882
The First Labor Day
Holiday
Because it wasn’t yet an official holiday,
many of the attendees risked their jobs
by participating in the one-day strike.
On their signs, they called for “Less
Work and More Pay,” an eight-hour
workday and a prohibition on the use of
convict labor. They were met with
cheers.

7. 4 TH MAY, 1886
Haymarket Riot
The May 4, 1886, rally at Haymarket Square was
organized by labor radicals to protest the killing and
wounding of several workers by the Chicago police
during a strike the day before at the McCormick
Reaper Works. Toward the end of the Haymarket
Square rally, a group of policemen arrived to disperse
the crowd. As the police advanced, an individual who
was never identified threw a bomb at them. The police
and possibly some members of the crowd opened fire
and chaos ensued. Seven police officers and at least
one civilian died as a result of the violence that day,
and an untold number of other people were injured.

8. 4 TH MAY, 1886
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket Riot set
off a national wave of
xenophobia, as scores of
foreign-born radicals and
labor organizers were
rounded up by the police
in Chicago and elsewhere.

9. 21 FEBRUARY, 1887
The First
Governmental
Recognition
The first governmental recognition came through municipal
ordinances passed in 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement
developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was
introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become
law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During 1887
four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and
New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative
enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and
Pennsylvania had followed suit.

10. 11 MAY, 1894
The Pullman Strike
Then came May 11, 1894, and a strike that shook an
Illinois town founded by George Pullman, an engineer
and industrialist who created the railroad sleeping car.
The community, was designed as a “company town” in
which most of the factory workers who built Pullman
cars lived.
The Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages in its
factories. Discontented workers joined the American
Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs, which
supported their strike by launching a boycott of all
Pullman cars on all railroads. ARU members across
the nation refused to switch Pullman cars onto trains.

11. 11 MAY, 1894
The Pullman Strike
When these switchmen were disciplined, the
entire ARU struck the railroads on june 26,
1894. Within four days, 125.000 workers on
twenty-nine railroads had quit work rather
than handle Pullman cars.
The strike was broken up by United States
Marshals and some 2.000 United States Army
troops, sent in by President Grover Cleveland
on the premise that the strike interfered with
the delivery of U.S. Mail. During the strike, 13
workers were killed and 57 were wounded.

12. 28 JUNE, 1894
The Congress approves
the legal holiday
In the wake of this massive unrest and in an
attempt to repair ties with American workers,
23 more states had adopted the holiday, and
on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act
making the first Monday in September of
each year a legal holiday in the District of
Columbia and the territories.

13. Why is a curious holiday?
Several nations in Europe and elsewhere celebrate International Workers' Day on
the first day of May, commonly known as May Day. Established to commemorate
the workplace violence that culminated in the 1886 Haymarket revolt in Chicago.
May Day often features organized public demonstrations and, at times, acts of
political violence.
It was probably for this reason that U.S. political leaders decided to support the
movement to celebrate the day in September rather than May. Despite their
origins, American workers have always seen "their" holiday as an opportunity to
rest, relax, and have fun.

14. Photos
Information
• www.history.com
• www.gannett-coh.com
• www.thoughtco.com
• www.iwate-kokyoinfo.com
• www.wordshalfheard.blogspot.com
• www.ap.gilderlehrman.org
• www.fineartamerica.com
• www.news.1tv.am
• www.newspapers.com
• www.nytime.com
• www.readthespirit.com
• https://ar.usembassy.gov
• https://www.history.com
• https://www.dol.gov
• https://www.nytimes.com
• https://www.usatoday.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY