Do you know why Labor Day is celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday of every September?
The holiday dates back to the late nineteenth century.
The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City in 1882, organized by a union to honor workers, with a day of rest. It wasn’t an official national holiday.
This TED-Ed Labor Day video, with illustrations by Kenneth C. Davis, tells the history of Labor Day.
Here are a few takeaways from the video:
During the Industrial Revolution, workers worked 12-hour workdays six days a week, with no benefits such as vacations or sick days. Children as young as ten-years-old worked in factories and coal mines.
Workers in the United States and Canada began to form labor unions to demand better working conditions, end child labor, and fair pay.
Company owners fought back against the workers to keep unions out. Workers organized labor strikes. At times, violent clashes occurred.
In 1886 at the Haymarket Square labor protest in Chicago, several workers and police officers were killed.
In 1894, the United States and Canada proclaimed the first Monday of September as Labor Day, a day of rest for workers.
