Labor Day...the last day of summer, a day of backyard bbq, a day to relax, time to spend with family and friends, etc. started out as a reaction to a very violent day (The Pullman Strike of 1894) in United States history. The Pullman Strike of Chicago was a nationwide (and 23 sympathy strikes nationwide) railroad strike led by Eugene Debs against wage reductions and unfair working conditions that involved over 250,000 workers in 27 states.
The majority of Americans saw the strike as harmful, called for the deportation of "the foreigners", and generally viewed the strike as un-American Socialist uprising. Some in the country supported the strike as defending "the rights of the people against aggressive and oppressive corporations...the monied aristocracy who seek to dominate this country."
Ultimately, President Grover Cleveland ordered over 15,000 federal troops and U.S. Marshalls to end the strike. The bloody result was nearly 90 workers killed or wounded with over $80 million in property damage.
In a conciliatory move (6 days after the Pullman Bloodbath) to quiet national unrest...President Cleveland rushed "Labor Day legislation" through Congress creating a nationwide federal holiday to "support the contributions of the American worker to the strength and prosperity of our country."
Eugene Debs
1855-1926
Debs was jailed for 6 months for his role in the strike...he would later be sentenced to 10 years in prison for speaking out against America's involvement in WWI.
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