Why do we celebrate Labor Day?

So Abigail posed this question to me yesterday, and I quite honestly had no answer. All I could assume was that was to celebrate our "labor", or work, giving us (American's) a break and time to honor something simple, without any political, religious or historical source. So, I looked it up:

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation." Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Source via

The first official observation of Labor Day was September 6, 1882 in New York City by the Central Labor Union; and soon other labor organizations around the country were observing the day (for its workers) as well. Legislation was introduced to make the ay an official holiday in 1887 and by June of 1894 Congress passed the bill making Labor Day a legal holiday -- celebrated the first September of every year. Now I know (and you probably already did ...)