Northern Italian Immigrants 10 12 2011 00 05 00 Came from northern Italy Rome Milan etc Large cites 10 000 Well liked by the WASPs o From affluent families cosmopolitans First stereotype given to Italians o Light skinned like WASPs fair eyes fair hair o Most were Protestant most spoke English o They had a good work ethic Northern Italians worked as architects brick layers etc o Brought Opera to America Philip Mazzei o Typical Northern Italian o Well educated came to America to practice medicine o Fueroso influenced Jefferson All men are created equal Jefferson asked Mazzei for Italian architects to design US Capital building First Wave of Northern Italians 80 000 Artisans Businessmen Artists Professionals Not tied to cities travelled for their work o New York Florida California New York ran businesses street markets restaurants o Florida involved in development of citrus industry oranges grape fruit etc Italians were Southern Italians were not respected by the WASPs like the Northern Unlike how all Germans were excepted because of the Penn Dutch This hurt the southern Italians because they aren t educated protestant or Anglo Saxon Seen as yokals backward farmers Second Wave Immigrants From Eastern Southern Europe Religion most were Jewish Language spoke the language of their home country o Very illiterate couldn t even sign their own name Unskilled most were farmers had never been exposed to machinery o Knew nothing about factory work Same pull factor America offered jobs an opportunity for better life Southern Italian Immigrants Southern Italy major cities Rome Naples and Palmero Land was not conducive to farming o Very few rivers o Mountainous o Harvested for centuries o Scarce irrigation In 1941 only 8 of artificial irrigation was in the South Most residents were peasant farmers o Contadini 1870 Italy became a unified after 10 years of internal fighting Northern Italians run government all money flowed north Only land owners could vote o 2 of cast votes came from Southern Italians Government promised land reform o They would give free land as payment for supporting the government This never happened Ignored by political system Northern Italians built a railroad from Northern Italy towards Paris Did not include southern Italian Push Factors Starvation Disease o Malaria Natural Disasters o Droughts and exhaustion o Flash floods in valleys contaminated water o Cholera caused by drinking contaminated water Major killer in the 1700 1800s o Mount Vesuvius Pompeii Still active today but has not erupted since WWII o 1908 Earthquake and Tidal Wave in Messina 100 000 died o 1910 Mount Etna killed people who inhaled ash Typical Southern Italian Family Family was extremely important to Southern Italians o La Famiglia included aunts uncles cousins etc o Campanilismo Extremely independent didn t trust institutions o Government churches and economic institutions would not take care of them Southern Italian Catholic Chruch Non institutional Catholics only went to church for mass Christmas funerals baptisms o No schooling etc o Did not trust the church It owned great lands and didn t do anything with it Expected peasants to pay Tithes and Taxes but the church goers never saw any of the money Had their own form of religion o Spirits and Saints helped daily lives go well Saints were the middle men between people and God o Very superstitious People wore charms with certain saints on them o Virgin Mary was very important to Catholics o Belief in Magic believed in cursing and blessing You could curse someone by giving them the evil eye or Malocchio Southern Italians Work Ethic and Honor Most southern Italian had a very good work ethic o Judged each other on the work they did not prosperity o Hard work was revered o Idleness was a sign of moral decay Honor and Vendetta o In order to have honor you must live an outstanding life People Didn t lie helped other didn t do things that allowed others to laugh at them o Vendettas if someone was wronged their family would find and kill the wrong doers Entire families would be wiped out after several years One way to end vendettas was to marry one member of a family to a member of the rival family Southern Italians Immigration 7 million people Practiced Return Migration but number that returned is unknown o Some wouldn t return but sent money to their family in Italy o Between 1880 1920 1 Billion sent back to Italy Padrones Southern Italian that worked in America they knew English and the US economy o Helped find food a home and jobs o Acted as translators and negotiators o Paid by American businesses to recruit Italian immigrants to Some went to Southern Italy to recruit people to move work for them to America Padrones Birds of Passages Americanos Return migrants recruited by o Worked hard in factories for 2 3 weeks Returned to Italy with a money American clothes and American tobacco o They said spoke well of America and were well respected o Swayed Southern Italians to move to America Ellis Island point of entry from immigrants 1892 1954 Annie Moore first immigrant processed through Ellis Island Ellis Island was built so that immigrants could be screened for undesirables screening o Screened for intelligence and health problems o 1st of 2nd class ticket holders did no have to go through health Strict health inspections any person with health problems denied o If a few passengers on the ship had Tuberculosis the entire boat was sent home o Six Second Physicals Dr s looked for outward signs of illness Tracoma contagious bacterial eye infection contracted from farm animals Turns eyelids inside out and causes blindness Largest cause of immigrants being denied entry Anyone with red eyes were denied entry Was spread because Dr s used same instruments Southern Italians Location Travelled to big cities most popular was New York on everyone Ethnic Enclaves Little Italys o Tenements people were divided into different buildings according to town or family of origin o Not a lot of crime except when there were Vendettas o Northern Italians hated Southern Italians because they gave them a bad name as Italians They feared that the WASPs would turn on them Lived in Italian American Colonies to separate themselves from Southern Italians Jobs Mutual Aid Societies Worked blue collar jobs because they were proud of working hard o 2nd and 3rd generation still worked blue collar jobs o The most advanced jobs were Firefighters and Police Officers Women didn t work They raised
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