Italian Immigration In The Late 1800s

Southern- Italian was the largest group to migrate to the US during the late 19th century and early 20th century follow by the Portuguese and Spanish. More than 5 million Italians from Sicily and poor southern Italian province settle on the east coast in the US. They created their own little town called little Italies due to hostility in America. More than one- quarter people migrated from Spain since 1820 and settle in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona Florida and Louisiana. The other half migrated to the Us in the 19th century due to economic depression.

The United States’ population surged between 1870 and 1924. Immigrants were flooding into the country from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and other countries. They saw America as a great land of opportunity that fulfilled their necessities. The majority of the immigrants settled in the major cities, as their was an abundance of job opportunities, and easy access to transportation. John Radzitowksi’s essay describes the Polish agricultural colonies in Minnesota. It also depicts how immigrants adapted to American life. The first document shows how some immigrants found it difficult to adapt and settle in a new land, and it shows that this was true for Irish immigrant Sam Gray. The second document is a story of Rocco Corresca, a poor

It is stated that during the early 20th century the Italians received white received much lower wages than the average American. What can you observe from this? According to me you can tell that the immigrants were victimized against society. Eventually the Italians were accepted into American society. The Americans started to conceive that the Italians were no threat towards them or their society.

Similar to most other immigrants that traveled to the colonies in the early days, the Italian immigrants were indentured servants under British control and eventually contributed to our nation’s success during the American Revolution. Despite their contributions, the immigrants that later entered the country from Italy were reliant on the Padron system to acquire labor contracts in the U.S. Consequently, their conditions as landless peasants in their home country and their inability to speak the English language left them susceptible to exploitation by the padron who withheld wages and provided them with inadequate housing. Eventually, as the Italians began to speak a sufficient amount of English they were able to acquire work for themselves

In addition to this major shift from rural to urban areas, a new wave of immigration increased America’s population significantly, especially in major cities. Immigrants came from war-torn regions of southern and eastern Europe, such as Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, Croatia. This new group of immigrants

During the late nineteenth century, immigration began to evolve. Advancements in technology made travel easier and quicker, and the advancement of industry in America opened up more jobs. Immigrants came for a variety of reasons, and not all stayed permanently. The immigrant, just like immigration, was changing with the times. There were different situations encouraging people to leave Europe, they had different goals, and many of the immigrants had a plan to return home.

In the late 1800s, millions upon millions of Europeans made their way to America for a variety of reasons. For the citizens of Italy, those reasons included poverty and political hardship. For many Italians, farming was their livelihood, however the antiquity of their tools did not allow for maximum efficiency. As a result, approximately 5 million poor Italian farmers made the trip across the Atlantic to America. While most settled in New York and the surrounding states, some journeyed elsewhere to states like Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Once they arrived, they would take the vacant positions of workers on strike making up to ten times the salary they would have made in their homeland.

The things that drove Italians out of Italy and to the United States was the poverty in Italy, the new and unstable government, and their struggling economy. Northern Italy had a history of wealth. While the South was very poor. Seventy-five percent of all the Italian immigrants came from

Immigrants from different backgrounds starting finding their niches in the economy. For example Jews started dominating the garment industry, while Italians became building contractors. Micro economies were created all over the place by these immigrants building and running local restaurants, ethnic groceries, bookstores, newspapers, and business geared towards their respective nationalities which helped to preserve their idiosyncrasy and culture. Irish and Italians living in Boston did not fear as well. They lagged behind their counterparts native born Americans (p. 418). The ability to learn English often increased their prospective to succeed in the new city life which was very competitive in nature and discriminated those that were not able to

America, the land of the free, and the home of the brave; well known as the "melting pot". Many different groups of immigrants chose to come to America, and leave their countries for various reasons. The Irish, for example, experienced a cruel famine, and poor working conditions. As for the Italians, they had many social problems such as violence, disease, unemployment, and poverty. The Chinese immigrants came to America because their economy came across several hardships and their working pay was low.

Drawn by the prospects of job opportunities, agriculture, land, and gold Italians began immigrating to California in the mid 19th century. At this time many Italians had settled on the east coast, causing “California [to be free] from the threat of large-scale immigration, because few Italian peasants were able to afford the additional travel expenses” (Giovinco 198). However, the Italians coming to California were mostly from the northern parts of Italy, while those that settled on the east coast were from the southern parts of Italy. Once arriving in California, the Italians settled in the North Beach area of San Francisco, Monterey, and southern California between the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

As with almost all immigrants, those of the Roman Catholic faith who journeyed from Europe to America in the 19th century brought with them their fears, hopes, desires and, most importantly, their religious culture and beliefs. These later Catholic immigrants were very different from earlier, wealthier ones, with the main disparity being the large difference in overall income and financial worth. Coming from Ireland, Italy and other European counties, many of those who immigrated in the 19th century had been in some of the poorest classes in their homeland and, because of this, were forced to utilize the indentured servant system in order to secure a ship to cross the sea. This lack of wealth ensured that these Catholics would have a very difficult time assimilating into American society.

When the immigrants came to America they seeked new opportunities such as growth in jobs like construction or service some even entrepreneurship. That is why most people when to big cities such as New York and Chicago. Although some people did go to more urban areas to farm the vast majority

The old stock Americans weren't used to the immigrants and for this reason they thought less of them and oppressed them.  The Italians and other immigrants were blamed for many of the nations problems.  For example, the government led raids on immigrants’ houses because they feared the immigrants were communists.  This was evidenced in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, when two Italian immigrants were convicted for murder and the prosecution had no real substantial evidence.  They were convicted mainly because of their beliefs, not their actions.  Religious beliefs also brought the immigrants problems.  The KKK was openly anti-Catholic and most of the Italians were catholic.  The immigrants and Italians also helped to bring on prohibition.  The Americans didn't approve of their drinking habits; therefore the prohibition amendment was made for this and other reasons.  Job competition was also a major reason for the racist feelings of the Americans.  Native white workers saw the immigrants as competitors for the jobs that they felt they should have.  A good example of this competition was “birds of passage.”  These were Italian workers who came to work in the U.S. but later returned to Italy with the money they earned in the U.S.  From 1899-1924 3.8 million Italians came to the United States, but 2.1 million left to return to Italy during the same

Concentration of immigrant populations was highest in four of America’s largest cities; New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Five out of every six Irish and Russian immigrants lived in a city. Three out of four Italian and Hungarian immigrants came to America with very little money to buy farms or farming equipment. Others settled in cities because farming in America was very different from that of Europe. Some immigrants, such as the Slavs, simply came to America too late to acquire land. Jewish and Irish preferred the city because it provided a chance to worship with other Jewish or Irish without persecution.