The May Day riots of 1894 were a series of violent demonstrations that occurred throughout Cleveland, Ohio on May 1, 1894 (May Day). Cleveland's unemployment rate increased dramatically during the Panic of 1893. Finally, riots broke out among the unemployed who condemned city leaders for their ineffective relief measures. According to the New York Times, "[t]he desire to stop work seemed to take possession of every laborer..." on May Day of 1894. Background May Day, or International Workers' Day was a day for remembering the workers who died during the Haymarket affair of 1886. During a General Strike in Chicago, Illinois, an unknown person threw a bomb into the crowd, prompting police to fire into the crowd, killing civilians and police alike. The same day in 1890, Raymond Lavigne called for international demonstrations to commemorate the day. In 1894 the Pullman Strike in Illinois, as well as this series of unemployed workers' riots on May Day in Cleveland, prompted U.S. President Grover Cleveland to propose a bill that would make a Labor Day a national public holiday. After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, US President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. May Day celebrations have diminished in the United States, because of the creation of Labor Day. Causes One of the major causes of the riots was the Panic of 1893. The panic precipitated one of the most severe depressions in American history. The closure of two major railroads and other major companies triggered a stock market collapse. The New York banks had heavily invested in the stock market, and bank failures soon began. This caused a contraction of credit, and many other, newer, businesses started to shut down as well. The depression produced widespread social unrest, mostly among the now-unemployed workers. Some people tried to create public works programs for the unemployed, but this was unsuccessful. The riot is now known to have associations with left-wing politics and communism. The Red Scare followed soon after the riots. Effects The riots of 1894, along with the Haymarket Affair, brought about a series of discussions about the workforce in America and the depression. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the