obstacles and contributions
While immigrants had to face intense struggles during their stay at Ellis Island, their new life in America made their hardships seem trivial in comparison.
JobsFinding a jobs could prove to be more difficult than expected for immigrants who, coming from farming communities in Italy, had no industrial skills at all. Most Italian women ended up becoming laborers, while the men worked similar jobs such as fishermen, coal miners, and stonemasons. Some followed their roots to become farmers in areas spread all across America. Some immigrants became entrepreneurs and many Italians were quite successful. However, the majority were forced to struggle to find enough work to support themselves and their families. During the beginning of the 20th century, Italian immigrants were paid some of the worst wages in all of America, and child labor was not unusual.
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HatredAs America and Italy were on opposite sides during WWII, Italian immigrants suffered much hatred when arriving in America. Many Italians were also Catholics, an uncommon religion in America at the time. This lead to even more clashes between the new immigrants and older American citizens. One such event occurred on December 24, 1806 when protesters rioted around a New York church because they did not understand the strange ceremonies inside (the ceremonies merely being Christmas Eve). A policeman was murder and dozens were hurt. Events like this were not uncommon due to the stark contrast between the religions of Americans and the immigrants.
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ChildrenMany Italian children were put to work to do their best in helping to support a struggling family. Children sacrificed their education and began working 12-14 hour days from very early on. Without labor laws, children suffered days on end to try to make ends meet, sometimes earning only pennies each day. Italian children usually married at an early age as well. The bright future many Italians perceived America as was not always what it turned out to be. These experiences were not just Italian, but could be found across all immigrant groups. Luckily, we have laws today to improve the quality of our lives as children and prevent us from suffering the same fate as our ancestors.
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Project by Ben Crair, Luke Macy, Will Ian, and Dom Riccio
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