Italian Immigrants in America

Italian immigrants In the late 1800s Italy became one of Europe's overcrowded countries. Many Italians are considering leaving Italy to evade the possibility of new low wages and high taxes. For centuries the Italian Peninsula has been divided into countries that are fighting entirely, and foreign troops often dominate several states. In this chaotic situation, the feudalism system dominated the economy, leaving only a few people (Wikepedia.com, 2007). Farmers in the poor southern regions of Italy and Sicily do not have much chance of improving their lives.

By 1870, there were approximately 25,000 Italian immigrants in the United States, many of whom were refugees from northern Italy, accompanied by a unification struggle of Italy and independence from foreign domination. Between 1880 and 1924, more than 4 million Italians migrated to the United States, half of which escaped from rural poverty in southern Italy and Sicily between 1900 and 1910 . Today, Italian Americans are the fifth largest ethnic group in America.

During the early waves of American immigrants various Italian laws prohibited immigration. Then in the late 1800s these laws were liberalized and suddenly Italian immigrants were rushing to the United States. In 1800, 12,000 Italians came here; in 1907, 286,000 people came. Between 1800 and 1913, over 1 million Italians have entered the United States. According to the US Census, there are currently 16 million Italian-American from 12 million. There was not a "state of Italy" until the 1860s, but there was a series of small areas ruled by a prince sharing language and culture. Italians initially had a tendency to consider themselves from villages and areas such as Tuscany, Calabria, Sicily. People from one area tend to gather in the same block of the same city in the United States (Anderson, 18)