Italians o Italians are most like the Germans o Both come to America in 1700 s o the difference between the Germans and the Americans is that The Americans did not treat the early arriving Italians the same as the later arriving Italians o The first wave of Italians came from Northern Italy o Only about 90 000 northern Italians came in the early first wave o They also were very spread out out of site out of mind for the WASPS o Northern Italians came from the cities that were north of Rome Florence Venice Milan Looked at as being a place of culture WASPS respected the northern Italians because of there history culture and art o Northern Italy has been involved in European affairs for a long time The WASPS have known the northern Italians for a long time o The northern Italians has light skin hair and eyes and usually protestant they were a lot like the WASPS o Saw the Northern Italians as being hard working industrious and decedents of the earlier o WASPS LOVED NORTHERN ITLAIANS loved them because of their culture educated hard working industries heir to roman empire light hair skin and eyes and they were protestant Push Factors for Northern Italians o The states within Italy were constantly fighting against each other and they wanted to get themselves and their families away from this chaos o they came with money Romans Able to send their children to schools start their own businesses live in nice homes Northern Italians Formative Wave o 10 000 came to the US o Philip Mazzei northern Italian well educated good doctor became an advisor for Thomas Jefferson Advocate for unification of Italy Thomas Jefferson used Philip Mazzei s line all men are created equal in the US Came to US in 1773 constitution Went back to Italy after American Revolution o Created the Washington DC the year after George Washington died o Thomas Jefferson wrote to Philip Mazzei to ask to help build the capital building He sent over two Italians and they built the capital we still have today o Italians brought over new architecture and music The opera Northern Italians First Wave o 1820 1880 80 000 Northern Italians came during the first wave o The were glass blowers doctors lawyers artists businessmen and artisans cabinet makers o Set up some of the most successful business o Settled all over the United States o In New York and California became involved in the fishing industry and also opened Italian restaurants o California and Florida became involved in the citrus industry also involved in the wine industry mainly in California o When Southern Italians begin arriving the WASPS dislike them because they don t look like or act like the Northern Italians Review 2nd wave Immigrants o Come from Eastern or Southern Europe Russia Poland Hungry Romania o They are Roman Catholics Eastern orthodox Catholics and Jewish o Usually have never seen industrial equipment before o Don t even know how to write their name o Never seen trains or ships o Pull factor needed cheap labor Willing to learn English and learn how to use industrial machinery and read and write English in order to get their families out of the poor conditions they lived in Southern Italy o Not a good place to be in the 1800 s o Major cities Italy Naples Palermo Rome fits in more with the northern Stereotype but geographically southern o Not cosmopolitan o Very few rivers in southern Italy meaning there is very little water for irrigation o There was also very little good water to drink o Used the same farming techniques as seen in the Medieval times Primitive Techniques o Northern Italians did not like Southern Italians Push Factor Unification Poor Government o Unification Italy became a unified country in 1870 Southern Italians hated unification Most southern Italians couldn t vote because only 1 2 owned land When Italy was unified they promised they were gonna give land to the southern Italia peasants but they lied Northern Italians wanted to being industry to Italy Wanted to build a railroad The railroad did not connect Northern to Southern to Italy o it connected northern Italy to Paris There were only schools in Northern Italy Only time the government remembered the southern Italians is when it came to taxes None of the tax money went to the Southern Italians Wanted to get away from this corrupt government The rivers were very small and usually dried up in the summer so there wasn t a lot of water for irrigation Droughts lead to not enough food being grown to feed the people Most of the farming is done in the valley and when it rains it causes mud slides that ruin your crops They were always exhausted and hungry A lot of mash land in Southern Italy o Starvation was a major push factor o Disease Southern Italy was covered in marsh land Marsh lands were infested with mosquitoes o Mosquitoes were spreading Malaria and yellow fever o Malaria is a disease you can never get rid of when you body was weak it would come back They water from the marshes would be infected with Cholera o The wells would be contaminated Malaria and Cholera killed thousands of people each year They didn t know where these diseases came from so they didn t know what they had to do to avoid contracting these diseases Southern Italy was the Malaria capital of Europe in the early 1900 s o Natural disasters Two active volcanoes in Southern Italy Mount Vesuvius 1906 covered Pompae Mount Etna on the island of Sicily 1910 When volcanoes erupts there are earthquakes and poisonous gases A tidal wave hit Messina Killed 100 000 people 40 feet high Typical Southern Italian Family o Two important things Your immediate family and your community Family was the building block of your life Loyalty other than to their family was to their town Sicily and southern Italy were always conquered Distrust everyone except their family and their community Southern Italians Catholic Church o Southern Italians do not treat the Catholic church like the Irish did It was looked at like the government as being corrupt and non trustworthy o Non institutional Catholic Only used the Catholic church for baptisms and funerals Believed the Catholic church was getting rich off of them Had to rent land from the church to supply for their families Has to pay your offerings each week to the church o Put their trust in saints rather than in priests They would pray to the saints and they saints would take their requests to God Became a client of that saint by wearing a necklace with some kind of charm for that particular
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