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Italy's contribution to american culture
Essay about italy culture
Italian immigrants to America
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Since the foundation of the country, immigration has been the driving force behind the country. The United States is one of the countries that has received more immigrants in the entire world. These immigrants have assimilated the "American way of life", but also they have changed their environment, and the American Society. That is the case of the Italian immigrants, one of the strongest immigrant groups in the country. The history of Italian immigration to the United States is a long one, dating from late 1800 to 1940-50. Sources estimate that during 1876 to 1976, nearly 26 million Italians migrated to the U.S. (Cavaioli 215). The number of Italians in the country was so big that they were able to keep their ways of life, and adapt them to …show more content…
After World War II, the immigration flow was still high, and many immigrants came to the United States escaping from a war-torn country that did not offer them the opportunities they needed to reconstruct their lives. Typically, Italian immigration had come from the southern part of the country. However, the post-war Italy saw emigration from the North-East part of the country, as well as the northern industrial cities such as Milan (Bonifazi et al. 6). It was only in the 1970s when the country’s economic situation started to improve, and immigration to the U.S. dwindled (Cavaioli …show more content…
My father was a shoemaker, and my mother was a housewife. Back in Italy, women used to stay home with the kids, rather than finding a job, or whatever. We had a small garden in our house with some vegetables, and she spent their days there, with the plants. Most houses had a patch where they cultivated some plants to eat (sic).
Do Americans you have met know about Italian culture? People believe that Italy is all about pasta; pizza, and mafia. There are many things about Italian culture that people don’t know. Besides, pizza is not even famous in Verona! Americans don 't know much about Italian culture, but they admire it. That is good.
How have you been treated in the country? After sixty-one years in the U.S. and being an American citizen, I feel more part of America than of Italy. However, at the beginning it was hard, I didn 't know English and didn 't know how to communicate with people. Luckily, I was surrounded by my family, we supported each other and were able to adapt to the country. For us Italians, the family is important and sometimes can make a big difference.
Do your sons and daughters speak Italian? I and my wife keep speaking Italian sometimes, and we tried to teach the language to our son and daughter. I think that language is important as it keeps traditions and helps them remembering that they are Americans, but also
When the Italian immigrants came to America for work they were desperate. They had already come for jobs, they were determined and hardworking. They would take the lowest class jobs wherever they could. City projects like building subway systems, and digging pipelines were not uncommon among the immigrants. Even children at young ages, would take jobs in factories, or even selling newspapers on the streets. Their work ethic and determination was unwavering. They opened the doors for future generations of immigrants. Although, they still had a long way to
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 1880 and 1920 more than 4.1 million Italians were recorded as entering the United States” (Daniels, p. 188). The Italian immigrants of post-1880 were different from other immigrant groups by these topics of religion, labor, family orientation, politics, and education. The 1880s brought a change not only in the amount of Italian immigrants but also the characteristic of them as a group. This group of immigrants was incredibly male dominated, in comparison to the other immigrants of this time, most settling in New York and Chicago. The living conditions that these Italians encountered were not pleasant. It was common for them to live in very crowded four bedroom apartments. Compared to other immigrants, they had one of the worsts living conditions usually very close to industrial working sites. These apartments commonly did not have plumbing. As unskilled workers, they tended to work in manual labor, on the railroad and in steel companies with dangerous conditions. These work areas were so dangerous that over forty deaths were common for each year. Sometimes Italians in construction would live in boxcars while working on a long-term project. This can be seen in the third picture of the additional links, Italian Laborers, Padrones, and Pernicious Pasta. The boxcar is not very large space and is being shared by three workers. There is obviously no plumbing, very filthy, and most likely without furniture inside. The men look grimy and worn out in the photo. The workday would usually be over ten hours a day, more than five days a week so it is understandable why some would opt just to live on the worksite. Although they worked all these hours, many still picked through garbage for food and scrap resources. Many of these im...
In the book, Coming to America, by Roger Daniels, he states “Between 1880 and 1920 more than 4.1 million Italians were recorded as entering the United States.” (p188) However, most Italians did not come to America, they mostly immigrated to Argentina and Brazil. The Italian immigrants who did travel to America did not stay permanently. About thirty to fifty percent returned home. The Italians who did come to America were mostly artisans, merchants, businessmen, professional people, musicians, actors, writers and seamen were the occupations most Italians
...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.
My name is Michael and I am from a little town in Italy called Erice which is located in Sicily. In the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, my family and I left Italy to travel to the beautiful New York City. My family and I were included in the 1890 New York census, which concluded that about 75,000 Italian were born as residents in New York. This all occurred before the Emergency Quota Act, which was an act that stated that about only three
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.
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).
Throughout the history of this nation there are thousands of upon thousands of immigrants coming to this country and achieving the American dream. The Irish immigrated to the United States in 1840 – 1850s in big numbers driven by hunger and by the oppression of the British. Many of them became successful politicians, police officers and businessmen. One of the brightest examples in the history of Irish immigration success is Henry Ford. His grandfather immigrated in the 1840s escaping the potato famine. Henry Ford himself was born in a poor family in Dearborn, Michigan went on to become the most successful car builder in the country (Hennigan). Between 1880 and 1920 the first wave of Italians mainly from South Italy immigrated in the United States (Hendin 13). Many escaped from the poor countryside in Southern Italy to seek better life in America. Shining ex...
Starting in the 1880’s people from England, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Poland left their homes to get away from religious or political persecution, war, bad living conditions, and to get jobs. The reason they chose the United States is because it provided good paying jobs, and better economic opportunities. Also because of the Gold Rush and because the U.S. advertised. About 8.5 million immigrants moved to the United States between 1880-1920. Italians moved mostly because of the Gold Rush. They lived in urban places in the east while North Italians went west. Not many immigrants moved south because in the north there were more job opportunities because there were larger cities in the north. Immigrants took low paying jobs with low wages. They mostly lived in slums. The south was mostly agriculture and farmlands.
Today, in most cases, people don’t spend very much time thinking about why the society we live in presently, is the way it is. Most people would actually be surprised about all that has happened throughout America’s history. Many factors have influenced America and it’s society today, but one of the most profound ways was the way the “Old Immigrants” and “New Immigrants” came to America in the early to mid 1800s. The “Old Immigrants were categorized as the ones who came before 1860 and the “New Immigrants” being the ones who came between 1865 and 1920. The immigrants came to the United States, not only seeking freedom, but also education. Many immigrants also wanted to practice their religion without hindrance. What happened after the immigrants
When Italian immigrants came to America, many were not welcomed in the communities of the Germans and Irish. The neighborhoods that the Itali...
Italy is one of the most well know places for it’s amazing land, people, food, and many more. I am going to tell you about how amazing Italy is and how many amazing places there are to visit in Italy. The first paragraph will be on the beautiful land. The second paragraph will be about the different types of food. The third paragraph will be about the many, many different people there are and what they do. The fourth paragraph will be about the history of Italy. The fifth paragraph will be about the important people that influenced the Italians. The sixth paragraph will be about the transportation that people use. The seventh paragraph will be about the most popular attractions. In a couple of minutes you will be an Italian fact monster.
The Italian culture, like other cultures all around the world, is very intricate and complex. One aspect that makes it so complex is that it has changed a lot in the past couple of decades. One major change is that