Ethnicity

p Some people think they know about Italians and Italy just by eating a pizza from Pizza Hut . Not the case . Sadly , many people have no idea how hard many Italians worked to come and share their delicious food (no not Pizza Hut , music , and culture with the United States

If you were living in Italy between 1876 and 1976 , then either you or someone close to you was most likely moving to the United States . It was during this time period that the largest amount of Italians immigrated to the United States

p It was not that the Italians did not love their home . In fact , Italy has with good cause claimed to be one of the most beautiful and romantic places to visit . In the late 1800 's , however , beautiful land did not put bread on the table . With low wages and high taxes , it was hard for a man to provide for his family . At the time , the country was beginning to get overpopulated and with very little education opportunities . Organized crime , such as the mafia , was also beginning to cause problems . Many people had no choice but to immigrate . This split up some families and separated many lovers . The trip to Ellis Island in New York , was often referred to as Isola della Lacrime ' or , the island of tears

To the Italian immigrants , America looked like it does to many people - the land of opportunity and prosperity for those who were willing to work hard . Some , however , did not come to America with the thoughts of staying permanently . Some dreamed that once they built up capitol , they would be able to take their earnings home to Italy and survive and also help the economy there

According to www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAEitaly .htm , from 1890 to 1900 , 655 ,888 arrived in the United States . The Italians generally gravitated to the larger cities , such as HYPERLINK "http /www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAnewyork .htm " New York HYPERLINK "http /www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAphiladelphia .htm Philadelphia , HYPERLINK "http /www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAchicago .htm " Chicago HYPERLINK "http /www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAbaltimore .htm Baltimore and HYPERLINK "http /www .spartacus .schoolnet .co .uk /USAdetroit .htm " Detroit . In 1900 to 1910 over 2 ,100 ,00 arrived . Of this amount , about 40 per cent eventually went home to Italy permanently

They were willing to work long hours for low amounts of money . They began to prosper over the Irish and were even taking over jobs that some of the Jews worked in factories . This made them unpopular with the Irish . They began to have prejudices between the two groups

According to www .ailf .org , the Italians , who were mostly Catholic , were disappointed when they came to the United States and saw that the Catholic churches were dominated by the Irish . This certainly did not help bond the Italians and the Irish . As the number of Italians increased in the big cities , they began to group together to avoid prejudices...