Figure 1.-- Here Italian benevolent associations are collecting money on the East Side, New York City. The money is for needy people in Italy. The photograph was taken January 10, 1909. The 1900s was the peak decade of Italian immigration. Notice the red, white, and green sashes. There was still considerable poverty among Italians on the East Side. Still they are donating for the people back home. I'm unsure how the money was actually used in Italy. Image courtesy of the George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

The first immigrants to America unless they had family connections or friends were rather much on their own. This was especially the case of Catholic immigrants because the United States was overwhelmingly Protestant. This is why Catholics for the most part did not emigrate to America in large numbers during the first half of the 19th century. The sole exception were the Irish and this was because of the catastrophic Potato Famine. This proved to be an advantage when the Italians began coming in large numbers. It meant that there were established Catholic churches and Catholic Church organization. Other organization followed as the Italians began arriving. Especially important was the Democratic Party which sought to politicize the new arrivals with job opportunities and other benefits. This was part of the process of the big northeastern cities becoming Democratic Party strongholds. The Italian immigrants were somewhat less likely to become naturalized citizens than many other immigrant groups. [Daniels, p. 199.] We suspect this was in part that many were poorly educated and, coming from southern Italy, had negative attitudes toward government authority. The level of immigration was probably another factor. Italians could live in the Italian neighborhoods without learning English and entering into American life. Another factor was the Italians more than other nationalities came to America to earn a bankroll and then return to Italy to open a shop or small business. This of course stimulated even more emigration. This changed with the second generation who upon birth in America were automatically American citizens. But many of the actual immigrants did not become naturalized citizens. Italian political participation was at first also low. There were few notable Italian-American politicians in the 19th or even early 20th century. In fact the best known Italians associated with politics were two anarchists accused of murder--Niccolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, both executed despite international protests (1927). The first notable Italian-American politician was the popular mayor of New York City--Fiollero La Guardia (1882-1947). While less has been written about the Italian-American political role than other important immigrant groups, it has become very important. Another important part of Italian organization was Italian benevolent groups to aid members of the community and as Italians became increasingly successful, Italians back home. Italians like other immigrant groups were an important part of the New Deal Democratic coalition. In part because of the success of the New Deal pro-union policies, Italian Americans have achieved considerable economic success. Since the Eisenhower election of the 1950s they have become a swing group. While many are sympathetic to the Democratic party, they tend to be supporters of a string national defense and socially conservative thus Republican candidates have had some success in persuading Italian voters. Democratic candidates like Gore (2000) and Keary (2004) lost in part because of their inability to keep Italian Americans in the Democratic coalition.

Created: 6:09 PM 9/21/2023
Last updated: 6:09 PM 9/21/2023