Monday, September 2, is Labor Day and people across the country get that day off. Every year Americans celebrate with barbeques and parades, but it is more than just a farewell to Summer.

Labor Day exists to celebrate the labor movement and the work that Americans put forth for the country. The first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. On this day, a union organized a day in the park in Union Square to honor American workers.

Part of the reasoning behind it was to provide a day to relax and rest in between holidays of Independence Day and Thanksgiving, but on the first Labor Day, resting was not the main priority for some. Some workers used that day to protest their workplace, to try to put an end to child labor and to try to attain fair wages. After this, the idea of Labor Day spread across the United States and the fight for fair labor began.

Around two years later, on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act to make it so that the first Monday of September we would have a holiday to honor American workers.

The United States is not the only country that celebrates Labor Day. Other countries celebrate too, although they celebrate on other days. Countries like Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, for instance, celebrate Labor Day on May 1. In those countries, this day is called International Workers’ Day. It is also known as May Day.