Then and Now Essay
Immigration to the United States refers to that phenomenon of international reach that has led people from every continent to settle in the nation since the early years of the pioneering era. Immigration was the main source of US demographic and political growth and contributed largely to the cultural enrichment of US history. The sociopolitical and economic aspects of immigration today have created the opening of national debates on issues such as ethnic and religious diversity, rising employment of foreigners in the face of indigenous peoples, settlements, environmental and social impacts, national identities, political affiliation, crime, moral values, and habits. Today, immigration flows that are in line with the frightening rise of illegal immigration, especially from Latin American countries, have reopened the question of imposing new laws on immigration regulation. In 2013 immigrants who resided in the United States were 41,347,945 on a total population of 316,497,531 individuals.
The history of immigration to the United States can be distinguished in four periods: the colonial era, the middle of the nineteenth century, the first twenty years of the twentieth century and the post 1965. Every time it was distinguished by the others for the reasons that led people to immigrate and for the different races and ethnic groups involved in mass movements. The middle of the nineteenth century was the protagonist of mass immigration from countries of central and western Europe (Germany, Ireland), while the early twentieth century was characterized by the arrival of southern and eastern Europeans (Italy, Eastern Europe). Since 1965, strong immigration has begun from Asian countries (China, India) and Latin American (Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras). From 1836 to 1914, over 30 million Europeans had immigrated to the United States.
Immigration to the United States did not have particular restrictions and regulations of immigration flows during the pioneering era, at this stage the first white colonists operated the conquest of Western lands in the hands of Native Americans precisely because of overseas immigration from European patriots. Only since 1875 they began to regulate entry, excluding certain categories of people. Since then, the federal government has studied several rules of immigration flows regulations, aimed at ethnic groups and no longer on social affiliation. These anti-immigration laws were initially aimed at countering the strong arrivals from Asia: in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act, which closed the door to Chinese immigration, was in this context. The increasingly restrictive immigration policies of the Asians went on to favor the arrival of Europeans, which, however, led to years of implementation of total or partial restriction rules for them. Nowadays, immigrants wanting to come to America or already in the US face issues such as Trump’s restrictive immigration policies.
Since immigration in America then and now is a vast topic which can include an array of ranging topics and focuses, targeting a specific groups’ experiences in Migration to the US makes it a bit easier to tackle and comprehend. In this case, I will be focusing on Italian immigration, a well-known country of origin for American immigrants.
In 2000, nearly sixteen million Americans claimed to have Italian ancestors. Today's Italian-Americans descend from about six million immigrants who came to the United States over a century and a half (1850-2000). These early immigrants, merchants, artisans and artists left a trace in American culture that was then emerging. Although best known as a political philosopher, Philip Mazzei, encouraged by Thomas Jefferson, planted vines, lemons and olives in the colony of Virginia. He was the predecessor of many Italian immigrants who a century later would create vineyards and winemakers in California. Others, dance teachers, language teachers and musicians, introduced the colonial social elite to Italian culture.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, hundreds of political refugees, escaped after the insurrectionary failure for the Italian National Unity, and sought shelter in the United States. From these humble origins, large statue production companies have developed, such as Da-Prato, Chicago. Italian artists, musicians and exponents of the literary world such as Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart's librettist, and Constantine Brumidi brought their talents to America.
The character of Italian immigration underwent a drastic change during the eighties of the nineteenth century, when tens of thousands of immigrants of rural origin began to arrive. In the last quarter of the century (1876-1900), despite most transatlantic immigration being directed to South America, the United States welcomed 800,000 Italians. The first fifteen years of the twentieth century mark the culmination of Italian immigration: about three and a half million Italians landed in the United States, largely on Ellis Island, although the rate of return from the United States in recent years remained high (About 50%). This was, for the most part, temporary immigrants, mostly young, males and peasants. Few were those who had some education or who owned a capital; very few professionals and merchants. Although all the Italian regions were represented, the four-fifths of Italian immigrants came from the Mezzogiorno, particularly from Calabria, Campania, Abruzzo, Molise and Sicily. Nevertheless, 20% (about 900,000) came from the Center and Northern Italy.
They were mostly males, including kids just over ten years, immigrating to groups of villagers, relatives and neighbors, generally under the guidance of someone who had previously traveled. These people had the sole purpose of returning home with as many US dollars as possible, with which to extinguish debts and buy land. Few families made the crossing together: women and children followed the head of household only if they decided to stay.
In order to provide an overview of Italian immigration, some general considerations are necessary. In dealing with a country unknown to them, families and extended kinship became even more important than they had been in the country of origin. Every critical moment of life was faced with the support and participation of relatives and villagers. Funerals, baptisms, weddings, buying a home were the cause of mourning or celebration by the whole community. This relatively close sense close of community and family was discovered to be a big reason as to why these Italian enclaves were experiencing some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the country.
Apart from family solidarity, the spirit of belfry was a cohesive force that led the villagers to gather in neighborhoods across America. Their institutional expressions, mutual aid companies, usually allowed the association exclusively to the villagers and their name derived from the patron saint of the village. In addition to providing financial assistance in the event of illness or death, the companies sponsored dances and parties; in these meetings food, music and stories, with their familiarity, mitigated the nostalgia of immigrant home. As the number of immigrants grew, these companies proliferated to hundreds.
To conclude back on the topic of general immigration, in modern times, the troubles of their developing countries continually create the circumstances that drive millions of foreigners to immigrate to richer North American and European countries, in particular. The phenomenon is also favored by modern communication technologies, which allow easy contact with relatives and friends immigrated, as well as offering images and direct knowledge of immigration countries that have their charms, although sometimes distorted or misleading. So there is a desire to immigrate to find better living conditions that are difficult to reach at home, as well as to have the opportunity to send money to their relatives, possibly cultivating the project of a future return as soon as possible.