History Discussion
allendong
Ch.5AgeofNewImmigrants.pdf
Ch. 5 Age of New Immigrants
Topics to Consider
1. Reasons for leaving Europe and immigrate to the United States. 2. Immigrant experiences through Ellis Island and the East Coast. 3. Old World & New World: How Communities Form
a. Focus on Italian Americans. 4. The Diaspora Groups: Armenians, Greeks, and Jews
a. Focus on Armenians.
Western Europe Immigrants • Late 1800s - early 1900s, the Iberian Peninsula, encompassing Spain and Portugal, saw a
tremendous amount of economic and agricultural hardship. • Economic
− With low wages, increased competition with textile industries, living in that area became increasingly problematic.
• Agricultural − Arguably ties into the economic portion of the argument. − The climate turned dry, making the soil more infertile. Agricultural devastation swept
through the peninsula. • Result → 140,000+ Spaniards left Iberia for America.
• Ellis Island - a historical site that opened in 1892 as an immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years until it closed in 1954. Located at the mouth of Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, Ellis Island saw millions of newly arrived immigrants pass through its doors.
Italian Immigrants • Northern Italy
− Traditionally more industrial than the South. Enjoyed work as doctors, businessmen, lawyers, artists, merchants, plasterers, carpenters, glassblowers, stonecutters, etc. Professions that the U.S. wanted to import!
• 1880-1924 around 80,000 northern Italians came to America. The northerners were lighter skinned, educated, and adjustable people. Came to U.S. for higher wages and better life.
• Southern Italy − More agricultural, less educated, darker skinned, and did not hold as many coveted
professions for the U.S. to openly accept. − Moved due to various social traumas in Italy. American propaganda, emigration, and
returning cash to families sparked a hunger to emigrate. − Preserving heritage was important, as they were forced to leave Italy during
agricultural plagues, wine/citrus industry hits, and cholera epidemics. • Between 1890-1924, around $1 billion was sent to Italy from Italian-Americans’ wages.
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Italian-Americans • By the early 1900s, more Italians realized that they had more opportunities in the U.S. than back
home. Began to migrate with their families for permanent residence. • East coast & interior U.S. saw many bustling Italian communities.
− New York, Boston, Norfolk, Chicago, etc. • Communities thrived
− Some worked with push carts, organ grinders, parades, religious festivals, food markets, etc.
− Others worked in industry performing jobs in mills, wharves, mines, factories, and in smelters.
− Some became businessmen and opened grocery stories, restaurants, pharmacies, etc. • Community Values
− La famiglia - security within the family with extended friends, neighbors, and spirit of commitment to one another through bloodline’s history.
− Institutions within economic, political, and religious were second to the family bond.
Italian Americans “La Famiglia”
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Godfather 2 Vito Andolini Corleone New York Arrival Scene
Italian-Americans Pt. II • Italians were suspicious of anyone other than their own. Centuries of invasion, discrimination
by northern Italians, and the signori (upper classes), left them to fend for themselves. • Catholic Church was also suspect to this relationship due to their major landowning in Italy,
leaving many of these newfound American immigrants poor and/or homeless. • Patron Saints
− Since God was a far-away figure religiously, only looking after the macro-level of society, many small villages worshipped individual saints. This way, they were the intermediary between themselves and God.
• Clientelismo - use of saints as intermediaries to God. • Malocchio - the evil eye must be averted or disaster will befall you. • Festa - once a year Italians celebrate their patron saint.
• Work Ethic - any hard work, laboring or white-collar, was respected. Money was spent on the family, loyalties were not averted to large companies, and most tended to work only within family circles or by themselves to avoid strangers.
The Godfather - Part II - Murder Of Don Fanucci (Warning: Graphic Content at End)
- Pay special attention to the festival activities in the video and the patron saint! - Notice the street’s immense festivities, inclusion of religious icons, and very “Italian” neighborhood that has been created here by immigrants.
Eastern European Immigrants
• Most spoke a Slavic language. • From political instability, warfare, religious persecution, or other reasons, more than 6+
million Eastern Europeans migrated to the U.S. between 1867-1914. • Peasants comprised most of the population, being acquainted with industry work through
their many travels in big cities. − Many did not want to initially stay in the U.S., used to being migratory and finding
temporary work in industrial jobs. Over time, they stayed due to better economic opportunity for themselves and their families.
• Most stayed in the big cities where they could hear their Old World languages, read of news from Europe, and worship in their churches (Eastern Orthodox or Catholic) − Eastern Orthodox (Constantinople Patriarch) − Roman Catholicism (Ukrainian and closer to central Europe)
• One group we will focus on today, but whose experiences echo to Greeks & Assyrians too. − The Armenians.
Diaspora Immigrants • Fall of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922) led the semi-autonomous peoples within the empire to
ruin. What was once a prosperous, multi-ethnic, culturally diverse, and lenient empire turned into a radical authoritarian state due to the losses in WWI and overall decline.
• The Armenian Genocide - the systematic mass murder and expulsion of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians carried out in Turkey and adjoining regions by the Ottoman government between 1914 and 1923.
• Armenians: − Between 1894-1915 over a million Armenian Christians were massacred in genocide, uprooting
their lives economically. Pragmatic/survivalist people. − Searched for new homes throughout the world (Middle East, Russia, Europe, U.K., South
America, Australia, and the U.S.) − Became integrated into the local countries, prided education and white-collar jobs, and heavily
retained their culture due to generations of persecutions. • Greeks:
− Similar to the Armenians, Greeks uprooted themselves after the Ottoman Empire fell. Economic hardship befell them, and the U.S. seemed promising! By 1924, over 100 Greek communities existed in the U.S. Cultural Preservation.
− Proud of heritage, language, culture, and history. Centuries of Ottoman stifling.
The Armenian Genocide
For Next Week:
Remember discussion question deadlines.
Look at online articles and materials.
Stay safe!
