Eight Hours: The Fight America Buried

Why does the United States have two Labor Days? In 1886, American workers struck for the eight-hour day. The campaign ended on a Chicago gallows, the world took May Day from it, and America buried the story under a September picnic. Every frame in this video is a real artifact or real period film. Nothing is AI-generated except the narration voice. 0:00 Two Labor Days 1:20 Whose hours were they 1:55 The eight-hour strike 3:16 McCormick 4:12 Haymarket 5:19 The trial 6:45 The gallows 7:47 The widow and the movement 8:24 May Day goes global 9:01 The September swap 10:28 The pardon 11:27 So enjoy your day off Imagery and film: Will E. Chapin's 1887 execution drawing, the 1886 Haymarket meeting handbill, Harper's Weekly and press engravings, and Bain News Service May Day photographs (Library of Congress); Lewis Hine child-labor photographs; Westinghouse Works films (1904, Library of Congress); Labor Day parade home movie (1936, Prelinger Archives); Haymarket Martyrs' Monument photo (CC BY 2.0). All other images public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and archive.org. #history #laborday #mayday