Race Ethnicity in the United States Final Exam Study Guide Italians The Italians were very similar to the German Immigrants The first to arrive to America were well liked by the wasps There were two waves of immigration The first from 1770 1810 The second from 1880 1920 First Wave Well liked Northern Italians for several reasons 1 The came in low numbers around 90 000 2 Came from Northern Italy Florence Milan Rome Venice Which are well known and cultured places that Americans knew of and respected They were seen as bastions of culture history and economy Northern Italians Were engrained in European Affairs they were cultured educated and connected to the rest of Europe They were stereotyped as Cosmopolitan Light skinned Fair hair and eye color They looked similar to WASPS so they fit in Many Northern Italians were also protestant Northern Italians were seen by WASPS as hard workers due to them having money Like the PA Dutch and speaking English Skilled Laborers Set apart from other immigrants they built buildings in Philadelphia and New York Northern Italians brought Opera to North America Northern Italians in America were businessmen Artists Artisians Profession als They were NOT tied to the cities they traveled around the country for their work Spread out so their numbers were small in locations Spanning from New York to Florida to California Developed the citrus industry in Florida and opened up restaurants in New York Phillip Mazzei Typical Northern Italian who was well educated He came to America to be a Physician he spoke English became close with Thomas Jefferson Mazzei was a writer during the American Revolution who signed pamphlets that urged to take up arms against the British under the Name of Furiosso Mazzei s writings influenced the declaration of indepen dence and Mazzei provided architects to build the capital in America Southern Italians Darker skinned darker features than Northern Italians Wasps immediately Second Wave immigration relate Southern Italians to the stereotype the English gave Africans Black is Bad Southern Italians were illiterate and had no skills other than farming in south ern Italy Sicily Major cities of Rome Naples Palermo People from Southern Italy called Contadini Italian for Peasant They were Farmers and land workers using 4 000 year old methods There were very few rivers in Southern Italy leaving little water for farming Only 8 of the artificial Irrigation in Italy was in the South Italian Unification Italy was like Germany A bunch of independent states until it was unified after a decade of internal fighting This unification benefited the North The North said they would use unification to make Southern Italy prosperous but the money flowed north due to there being a central treasury controlled by the North You needed to be a landowner to vote so 98 of the votes came from the North causing the North to have a monopoly on the government The North ern Italians use tax money to build a railroad from Northern Italy to Paris leaving the south out The south was only considered when it was time to collect taxes Southern Italians lived in hobbles and tents while being taxed to build large Northern Italian Government Buildings Droughts were common occurrence for farmers along with floods The floods carried away topsoil ruined homes and crops caused starvation and ex haustion in southern Italy Southern Italians were concerned with daily survival They had Dirty water that led to disease like Cholera and Malaria Push Factors for Southern Italians Including the previous paragraph Natural Disasters Volcanoes including Mt Vesuvius near Naples Mt Tidal Wave 1908 and Mt Etna Erupted in 1910 these two combined cre Etna in Sicily ate a Push Factor to leave Other Push Factors Shitty Government Starvation Disease Family was important especially the extended family Typical Southern Italian Family Campanilismo The Italian spirit of community the idea that your family is your immediate support structure and then the people of your village is your secondary support They do not trust people outside their family and community and distrusted other institutions Catholic Church Southern Italians used it for baptism marriage and funerals and that s it They didn t go to church for socials or school like other cultures They would have daily prayer rituals and charms These were ways to ap pease the saint you wanted to aid you on a day to day basis The Evil Eye Belief that it is a curse of a saint and you can stop it by wear ing charms and amulets that prevent curses If you were a hard worker in Southern Italy you were a good Citizen Lazy work ers were ostracized and dishonored Belief in honor and Vendettas Living an outstanding life on guard 24 hours to not be dishonored never telling a lie etc If you did something by mis take or on purpose to someone their family would avenge their deaths Vendettas were stopped by rival families having a marriage between a mem ber of each Southern Italian Immigrants Seven Million came between 1880 and 1920 Not all stayed they practiced Return Migration Padrones Southern Italians in America who were employment agents for Im migrants non asshole runners They would help immigrants find a place to stay food acted as interperters apartment finders They set up immi grants with jobs Padrones were paid by American Businesses to find Ital ians to work for them Some Padrones would travel to southern Italian vil lages to recruit members Southern Italians didn t have it easy but were way better off than the Irish due to the Padrone s help Birds of Passage Southern Italians that went to work in America to make enough money to return to Italy and live comfortably They stayed for 2 3 years and worked very hard and when they returned to Italy they were called Americanos They showed off their money wearing American clothes smoking American Tobacco speakin American Ideas They were respected by their villagers for their work ethic and influenced many to become birds of passage Some who went to America stayed and sent money back From 1880 1920 about a billion dollars was sent to southern Italy They bought steerage class tickets to America The Mediterranean part of the voyage was calm and then they hit the Atlantic which made the trip utter shit until they hit New York Immigrants arrived at Ellis Island to pass a health inspection to be allowed into the United States Annie Moore Ellis Island First immigrant through Ellis Island It was built so they could be
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