Labor Day, the annual holiday honoring the important role of American workers and unions, began as an unofficial holiday in the early 1880s and was declared a federal holiday in 1894.
The first Labor Day commemoration was held on September 5, 1882, when more than 10,000 workers paraded in New York City and held a rally in Union Square. Such celebrations spread throughout the country in the following years, during a period when the growing labor movement faced many struggles.
The violence of the Haymarket Riot in 1886 was a major setback for labor. And in the 1890s two landmark events, the Homestead Strike in 1892 and the Pullman Strike in 1894, turned into small wars.
After federal troops moved into Chicago and shot workers during the Pullman Strike the administration of Grover Cleveland wanted to extend a peace offering to the labor movement. The result was a bill rushed through Congress to make Labor Day an official federal holiday.
More: 19th Century Labor History
Illustration: An early Labor Day parade in New York City, circa late 1880s/Library of Congress
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