Labor Day Purpose and History

Labor Day is a public holiday in the United States. Always observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day celebrates and honors the contribution of the American system of organized labor and workers to the prosperity and economic strength of the nation. The Monday of Labor Day along with the Saturday and Sunday preceding it is known as the Labor Day Weekend and is traditionally considered the end of summer. As a federal holiday, all but essential national, state, and local government offices are typically closed on Labor Day. Labor Day Key Takeaways Labor Day is a national holiday in the United States always observed on the first Monday in each September.Labor Day is observed to celebrate the contributions of organized labor and workers to the prosperity of the U.S. economy.The first Labor Day celebration was held on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, while Oregon was the first state to actually adopt a Labor Day law on February 2l, l887.The United States Congress declared Labor Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1894. Along with the day’s historical significance, Americans tend to consider Labor Day as marking the â€Å"unofficial end of summer.† Many people wrap their vacations around Labor Day in anticipation of fall activities, like the start of school and cool-weather sports. Labor Day is the day to â€Å"throw down your tools,† and eat too many hot dogs while thanking American workers for their collective contribution to the strength, prosperity, quality of life, cold beer, and great sales enjoyed across the nation. In every sense, the underlying meaning of Labor Day is different from that of any other yearly holiday. â€Å"All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of mans prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another,† said Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor. â€Å"Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.† Not a Day Off for Everybody, by Far Of course, it should be noted that millions of hard-working Americans, like those in the retail and service industries, along with those in law enforcement, public safety, and health care observe Labor Day by working as usual. Perhaps they deserve the special appreciation of those of us who do get to spend the day eating the hot dogs and drinking the beers. Who Invented Labor Day? The Carpenters or the Machinists? More than 130 years after the first Labor Day was observed in 1882, there is still disagreement as to who first suggested the â€Å"national day off.† America’s carpenters and construction workers, along with some historians will tell you that it was Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, who first suggested a day to honor those â€Å"who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.† However, others believe that Matthew Maguire – no relation to Peter J. McGuire – a machinist who would later be elected secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey proposed Labor Day in 1882 while serving as secretary of New York’s Central Labor Union. Either way, history is clear that the first Labor Day observance was held in accordance with a plan developed by Matthew Maguire’s Central Labor Union. The First Labor Day The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. As proposed by the Central Labor Union, the first Labor Day celebration was highlighted by a parade to show the public â€Å"the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.† In 1884, the Labor Day observance was changed to the first Monday in September as originally proposed by the Central Labor Union. The union then urged other unions and trade organizations to begin holding a similar â€Å"workingmen’s holiday† on the same date. The idea caught on, and by 1885, Labor Day observances were being held in industrial centers nationwide. Not to Be Confused With International Workers’ Day In 1866, International Workers’ Day or â€Å"May First† was established an alternative holiday for the celebration of organized labor. Observed annually on May 1, the day was created by a resolution during the 1884 convention of the American Federation of Labor in Chicago. Today, International Worker’s Day is celebrated annually on the first day of May due to its proximity to the date of the bloody Chicago Haymarket Affair labor demonstration and bombing of May 4, 1886. Some labor unions of the day felt that International Workers’ Day was a more appropriate tribute to the struggles of their cause than Labor Day, which they considered a frivolous picnic-and-parade day. However, conservative Democratic President Grover Cleveland feared that a holiday to honor labor on May 1 would become a negative commemoration of the Haymarket Affair, rather than a positive celebration of how the nation benefited from labor. Today, the first day of May is still observed in many countries as â€Å"International Workers Day,† or more often as â€Å"Labour Day.† Labor Day Gains Government Recognition As with most things involving a potential day off, Labor Day became very popular very fast, and by 1885, several city governments have adopted ordinances calling for local observances. While New York was the first state legislature to propose official, statewide observance of Labor Day, Oregon was the first state to actually adopt a Labor Day law on February 2l, l887. The same year, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York also enacted Labor Day observance laws, and by 1894, 23 other states followed suit. Always looking for already popular ideas to get behind, the senators and representatives of the U.S. Congress took note of the growing Labor Day movement and June 28, 1894, passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. How Labor Day Has Changed As massive displays and gatherings have become larger problems for public safety agencies, especially in large industrial centers, the character of Labor Day celebrations have changed. However, those changes, as noted by the U.S. Department of Labor, have been more of â€Å"a shift in emphasis and medium of expression.† Thanks mainly to television, the internet, and social media, Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are delivered directly into the homes, swimming pools, and BBQ pits of Americans nationwide. â€Å"The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy,† notes the Labor Department. â€Å"It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nations strength, freedom, and leadership— the American worker.†

Comparative Essay - 1281 Words

Comparative Essay: Original creation of the Earth PHSC 210, D03-LUO I. Introduction The old-Earth evolution and young-Earth creation debate has been one that has gone on for centuries. Each viewpoint seeks to give an answer to life’s most difficult questions or origins and how the Earth came to be what it resembles today. While the Young Earth viewpoint has remained constant and unchanged throughout the centuries the Old Earth view seems to be continually evolving as new discoveries tend to discredit previous assumptions. One certainty is that both viewpoints take a dogmatic stance against each other in regards to the interpretation of scientific evidence. The purpose of this paper is to compare old-Earth and†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The early Earth was probably partially or largely molten† (The Solar Nebula. N.d). Over time the earth cooled and the crust was formed. â€Å"Much continental crust, the most silica rich and least dense kind, has been produced by 2.5 billion years† (The Solar Nebula. N.d). Over a period of time and a series of volcanic eruptions water vapor was thrown into the atmosphere and eventually condensed to form the oceans. From a spinning cloud of dust the evolutionary process began and the Earth that is inhabited today came into existence according to the nebular hypothesis. I. Young-Earth View The young-Earth view on the original creation of the Earth and all that inhabits it is a six literal day creation by God. This view does not try to hypothesize on the unobserved past, rather this view is based off of the Genesis account recorded in the scriptures. â€Å"The language of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are technically precise and linguistically clear. Any reader would understand that the author of those pages intended to convey a normal six-day creation† (Creation was 24/6. N.d). â€Å"Genesis is history, not poetry, parable, prophetic vision, or mythology† (Mortenson, 2011). The foundation of the young-Earth viewpoint starts with God as the omnipotent spiritual being from eternity past who spoke all things into existence. In the first day God created light and separated it from darkness (Gen 1:3-5). On the second day God created an expanse and separated waters above and belowShow MoreRelated comparative advantage Essay1035 Words   |  5 Pagesnbsp;nbsp ;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The theory of comparative advantage is perhaps the most important concept in international trade theory. As the economies that exist in our world our becoming increasingly more intertwined, it is becoming even more important. Nearly every country in the world depends on other countries to supply them with goods that they cannot produce in their own country. I believe that comparative in necessary in today’s economy. 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Satan as Hero in Paradise Lost Free Essays

The name of Satan has been permanently tarnished and cursed throughout English literature. His heinous strategies have crafted an abominable reputation for him, the enemy of the Lord. However, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan acquires a role depicted with characteristics associated with the epic heroes and heroines. We will write a custom essay sample on Satan as Hero in Paradise Lost or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first two books of Paradise Lost describe Satan, one-third of Heaven’s fallen angels, and their experiences after their eviction.In a state of anguish, Satan’s followers are still confident in their ambitious leader. With futures murkier than Hell’s obsidian darkness, Satan feels pressured to somehow compensate his demons for their humiliating downfall. When nobody volunteered to explore the rumored world of Paradise, Satan, as the commander, took it upon himself. Due to his unfaltering pride, Satan was somewhat courageous, a quality of an epic hero. Unfortunately, his main goal was to perpetually conquer all good things and to destroy anything representing God.Boiling with animosity, Satan travels throughout Hell on a journey to find Paradise. By traveling through a few realms, his actions became noticeable to his enemies. God and Jesus Christ discussed the intentions of Satan against mankind and began planning on how they would defeat him. Satan had already become legendary in Heaven and he was about to promote that title with Paradise’s defeat. In the books, Satan seemed to be misunderstood and at certain instances, desiring to repent.However, his eternal resentment towards God regenerated his hatred. He knew that he could not return to his previous state of innocence and his pursuit to forget his past seemingly characterizes him as a tragic hero. The reader feels sympathetic for him because his emotions mirror human emotions. Milton shows both sides of the enemy of God and in doing so, it is hard to place a solid analysis on one of the main characters in Paradise Lost. How to cite Satan as Hero in Paradise Lost, Papers