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Why do we celebrate Labor Day? So Grover Cleveland could own the left.
RETROPOLIS
Why do we celebrate Labor Day? So Grover Cleveland could own the left.
By Gillian Brockell
September 5, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Americans often do things a little differently from the rest of the world. We measure differently (imperial vs. metric), write the date differently (month-day-year vs. day-month-year) and fill our cups with enormous amounts of ice (a less cost-effective but undeniably more enjoyable way to consume beverages). ... We also celebrate workers and the labor movement on a completely different day from most of the rest of the world: Labor Day vs. May Day. That is particularly strange considering both days started right here in the United States. So how did one spread elsewhere while the other became a federal holiday here? ... Politics, of course.
{snip}
Both May Day and Labor Day were honored in the United States by various labor groups for years, though the former had a reputation for being more political, more radical and less merry than the latter. For that reason, Labor Day was always more popular with lawmakers, and more than 20 states had made it a state holiday by 1894.
{snip}
Making it a federal holiday was not high on the list for President Grover Cleveland. In 1894, he was focused on the recession and kicking around the idea of running for a third term. And then there was the headache of the Pullman Strike, a long and bitter strike centered in Chicago and threatening the nation’s already battered economy.
As Cleveland prepared to clamp down on the strikers, he pushed a Labor Day bill through Congress and signed it on June 28. Most historians agree it was largely an attempt to concede something to the labor movement while blunting the power of the more radical May Day crowd. ... A few days later, Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago as the strikers grew violent. On July 17, National Guard troops fired into the crowd, killing as many as 30 people. When the first federally recognized Labor Day rolled around that September, workers and labor unions were not assuaged. Only federal workers got the day off.
{snip}
By Gillian Brockell
Gillian Brockell is a staff writer for The Washington Post's history blog, Retropolis. She has been at The Post since 2013 and previously worked as a video editor. Twitter https://twitter.com/gbrockell
Why do we celebrate Labor Day? So Grover Cleveland could own the left.
By Gillian Brockell
September 5, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Americans often do things a little differently from the rest of the world. We measure differently (imperial vs. metric), write the date differently (month-day-year vs. day-month-year) and fill our cups with enormous amounts of ice (a less cost-effective but undeniably more enjoyable way to consume beverages). ... We also celebrate workers and the labor movement on a completely different day from most of the rest of the world: Labor Day vs. May Day. That is particularly strange considering both days started right here in the United States. So how did one spread elsewhere while the other became a federal holiday here? ... Politics, of course.
{snip}
Both May Day and Labor Day were honored in the United States by various labor groups for years, though the former had a reputation for being more political, more radical and less merry than the latter. For that reason, Labor Day was always more popular with lawmakers, and more than 20 states had made it a state holiday by 1894.
{snip}
Making it a federal holiday was not high on the list for President Grover Cleveland. In 1894, he was focused on the recession and kicking around the idea of running for a third term. And then there was the headache of the Pullman Strike, a long and bitter strike centered in Chicago and threatening the nation’s already battered economy.
As Cleveland prepared to clamp down on the strikers, he pushed a Labor Day bill through Congress and signed it on June 28. Most historians agree it was largely an attempt to concede something to the labor movement while blunting the power of the more radical May Day crowd. ... A few days later, Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago as the strikers grew violent. On July 17, National Guard troops fired into the crowd, killing as many as 30 people. When the first federally recognized Labor Day rolled around that September, workers and labor unions were not assuaged. Only federal workers got the day off.
{snip}
By Gillian Brockell
Gillian Brockell is a staff writer for The Washington Post's history blog, Retropolis. She has been at The Post since 2013 and previously worked as a video editor. Twitter https://twitter.com/gbrockell
