http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic
Protestant Work Ethic
The Protestant work ethic is a biblically based teaching on the necessity of hard work, perfection and the goodness of manual labor. Protestant preachers preached on the goodness and the necessity of manual labor and its efficacious effect for humans personally and on Christian society as a whole. Protestant preachers saw this as a salve or a correction for original sin. 
The term was first coined by Max Weber who was the “youngest” of the German Historical School. It is part of old American culture of the 1800's and is seen by some Americans as one of the cornerstones of national prosperity.