We all celebrate the Labor Day with lots of festivities. It signifies the end of summer and is celebrated on the first Monday of every September. Most of us are off from work on that day and celebrate with our friends and our family and have a barbeque in our backyard. However, how many of us know the importance and what it truly represents? How this federal holiday originated? Do we really know why Labor Day is important?

Possible Explanation Of Origin

To really know why Labor Day is important in our life, we must know the history behind it and how it originated. There are many versions of the origin of Labor Day. According to some people, Labor Day was started in the year 1882 due to a labor movement. The holiday was to celebrate the efforts of the hard-working common man by giving them a day to rest and mingle around socially. The general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Peter J McGuire is the man who is given credit by many historians for proposing the Labor Day. He was also the Co-Founder of the American Federation of Labor.

However, there are many historians who feel otherwise. According to them, the serving secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York, Matthew Maguire who was also a machinist is the man behind the Labor Day celebrations. It was he who proposed the idea to the Central Labor Union and they selected a board to put in order an official celebration on September 5, 1882 in the city of New York.

History

The September date at first was selected by the CLU of New York. This day was selected as it occurred in between the Independence Day and the day for Thanksgiving. Later, the thought became very popular amongst other groups and municipalities and was celebrated by many of the trade unions in the country for the past several years. Later, this developed into a national Holiday. Why Labor Day is important can be answered in this way as well. The first combined trade union which was big enough in terms of name and value was the Labor Union of New York who had celebrated the first Labor Day in United States of America on 26th August in 1878. It was declared a federal holiday in 1894. This was due to the Pullman Strike where large scale deaths of workers occurred due to the US military and US Marshalls. The then President of America, Grover Cleveland quickly reconciled with the labor organizations and declared the day as a national holiday. Due to hurry, the congress passed the resolution unanimously just after 6 days of the strike. The day in September (first Monday in the month of September) was finally chosen as the date for celebrating Labor Day, because President Cleveland was skeptical about keeping the original day that could stir up negative feelings and bring back old memories.

Celebrations

It is necessary to know why Labor Day is important but at the same time, let us concentrate on the celebrations part. Labor Day was initially marked with public demonstrations, parade and rallies of groups of workers. These activities lost their importance once trade unions and other related groups were formed. Initially, it was celebrated for the workers who worked in factories and industries but now, the things have changed. The Labor Day now encompasses not only factory workers, but also people with white collar and blue collar jobs. This is to celebrate the fact that all these people have contributed somehow or the other in the success of America.

The reason why Labor Day is important is because it is a day off for the working class of the American Society. This day we spend the time lazily either doing our household chores or meeting friends. We tend to take time off to take our family for outdoor picnics or celebrations like fireworks, barbeque, water sports etc. It is an important day in the life of every American and a unique way to thank all the American Workers for the hard work they do and efforts they put in.

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