From the years 1880 to the early 1900’s immigrants from Italy began to find their way to the new land in America. But why did they choose to move and why did they choose here? Opposition to the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini was one major cause of the great number of Italians leaving Italy. Other reasons were that poverty, overpopulation, and natural disaster all spurred in Italy in the late 1800’s. Also the illiteracy rate in southern Italy was nearly 70 percent, about 10 times as high as Germany, France and England in the late 1800’s. There was a lack of cultivatable land and of industrial resources such as coal and iron. Also they had a lack of modern agricultural technology, therefor the 80% of Italians who relied on farming for their …show more content…
There was also a disease, Phylloxera, which spread and killed many vineyards. Natural disasters destroyed many families’ lives in Italy including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and massive tidal waves. In Italy, a worker could make between $2 and $8 for 6 days of work, while in other countries such as the United States they could make around $20 or more a week. Italians came to America for a new start and with the visions of achieving the American Dream. In the late 1800’s and through history, people saw America as the “land of opportunity”, “the land of milk and honey” or “The Promised Land”. They believed that America was the place that they could turn their life around and get a job to support their family better than they could in their native country. The jobs that they found were not always easy. The first Italians to America often became fruit merchants in New York and wine growers in California. Many agricultural states …show more content…
Many immigrants suffered from both physical and verbal abuse because they were "different." Prejudice against Italians contributed to the false conviction of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in 1921. Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants who were accused and convicted of murdering two men during an armed robbery in Massachusetts. After a controversial trial, the men were executed in August of 1927. Many arguments have been made, but it was highly believed that the men were not given a fair trial and it was due to racism that the men were convicted, not due to evidence. The groups of Italians to arrive were seen as “clannish” by the Americans, this was because they typically stuck to their own kind rather than assimilating. However, language and culture are major differences to overcome and very challenging, especially in the quickly growing American cities, where competition for living space and jobs was very fierce. Discrimination against Italians saw another wave during World War II. During this time, thousands of Italians were sent to camps or were heavily watched by the US Government. Others often had to have identification on them at all times if they worked near sensitive areas, such as around waterfronts and/or naval bases to prove that they were legal citizens in America. Immigrant men were typically paid less than American
Immigrants during this time period came to America seeking wealth for their family they had brought with them, or to send back to their families in their homeland. Whichever case it was immigrants spent the majority of their time working in the factories in hope for a better life than the one they gave up in coming to America. However, upon arriving immigrants soon realized that the home they left behind was not all that different than their new one. Immigrants came seeking the types of jobs that would give them Liberty and independence, leaving them only to find themselves just a working part in a large factory dependent on machines, rather than their own skills.
Life in Italy is much different than life in the United States. Italians live at a much slower pace, than American’s and they have a desire to enjoy life instead of rushing through it as many American lifestyles exhibit (Zimmermann, K. (2015). The extended family is very important in Italy, whereas in the United States, the focus tends to be on the nuclear family, which includes mom, dad, and children (Zimmermann, 2015). The differences in Italian culture and American culture are vast and varied, but with a few comparable components to demonstrate similarities.
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
Between the years of 1840 and 1914, about forty million people immigrated to the United States from foreign countries. Many of them came to find work and earn money to have a better life for their families. Others immigrated because they wanted to escape the corrupt political power of their homelands, such as the revolution in Mexico after 1911. Whatever the case, many found it difficult to begin again in a new country. Most immigrants lived in slums with very poor living conditions. They had a hard time finding work that paid enough to support a family. Not only was it difficult for immigrant men, but for women as well. Immigrant women faced many challenges including lack of education and social life as well as low wages and poor working conditions.
The first paragraph evokes the normal and typical structure of the Italian-American immigrant family in this era. In the Vitale family, everyone has their own role. The father, Giovanni Vitale, has the duty of working long hours to provide for his family. The mother, Lisa, has the role of a homemaker, making dinner for the family, and takin...
determined to adapt his techniques to American society. He did so with flying colors and
To begin with, this is determined by Italy's weak and foreign expansion policy. In 1871, the long-torn apartness of Italy achieved unity, providing favorable conditions for the development of capitalism. But the reunification is completed from top to bottom, retaining a large number of feudal remnants, which seriously hindered the further development of the Italian economy, resulting in the backwardness of Italy, mainly in three aspects: First, backward agriculture, food production is extremely
...they will not settle for less. Time is wasting. For, “Time which brings us from the lowest condition up to the highest civilization; time, so that we can raise men to a higher plane” (Reading 10, p. 2). Gompers has greater aims, for he wants to better America to keep advancing and creating. Of all of America, Chicago was the fastest growing city because of its railroad factory, which needed unskilled laborers like Italian immigrants. “The production of steel defined industrial Chicago” (Slideshow 7: Italian Immigrants in Chicago). If Italian immigrants were not in New York City, they were in Chicago. Wherever they lived they were experiencing horrifying working environments. In order to understand why these changes in conditions were so necessary between, it is essential to analyze the experiences of pre and post 1880 immigrants, especially that of the Italians.
Between 1880 and 1920 almost twenty-four million immigrants came to the United States. Between better salaries, religious freedom, and a chance to get ahead in life, were more than enough reasons for leaving their homelands for America. Because of poverty, no future and various discrimination in their homelands, the incentive to leave was increasing. During the mid-1800's and early 1900's, the labor and farm hands in Eastern Europe were only earning about 15 to 30 a day. In America, they earned 50 cents to one dollat in a day, doubling their paycheck. Those lower wage earners in their homeland were st...
Unless you are a wealthy Italian, you live a much humbler lifestyle. A lot of Italians homes are meager, and the material goods Americans want and vie for, aren’t as important to them. I realized how fortunate I was for all the belongings I took for granted. Some Italians would view the home I grew up in as a mansion compared to their own. They seemed so much happier and it was humbling to see them content by having a lot
The peasants in the deprived, southern area of Italy and the island of Sicily had little hope of upgrading their lives. Many diseases and natural disasters spread through the area. On top of this, Italy's crumbling government was in no state to come to its people's aid. Word that life in America was soon spreading across the land, and more and more Italians found it difficult to resist the thought of a new and more prosperous life. Italian immigrants began piling in to Ellis Island in New York to take their first steps on U.S. soil in search for a new beginning (The Library of Congress, 2004).
An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprises, and industrial workers, and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic tensions were created.
During the years 1870- 1890 there was economic change thru out Europe. These changes motivated people of most every European country to make a choice to leave their homes in search of a better life some where else. Europe simply could not produce enough land to support a rapidly expanding population. At one time the soil of Europe was fruitful soil, but it was soon ruined by shipbuilding from ancient Greek shipbuilders who stripped the forests of Sicily. “Migrants themselves appreciated the chance to begin anew without the harsh conditions of the Old World.”
Yet America still beckoned most strongly to the struggling masses of Europe, and the majority of migrants headed for the "land of freedom and opportunity". There was freedom from aristocratic caste and state church; there was abundant opportunity to secure broad acres and better one’s condition.
When Italian immigrants came to America, many were not welcomed in the communities of the Germans and Irish. The neighborhoods that the Itali...