Opportunity and a new life. This is what many Italian families were looking for and believed they could not find in Italy. A change was needed and the Italians believed the best place for this was in the United States of America. Posters and articles were spread around Italy, painting the picture of America as a land of opportunity and a new beginning. Working conditions already being rough in Italy led families to consider this move. Those in Sicily experienced the worst of the conditions as peasants and worked long hours earning little pay. As new opportunities arose in the United States, thousands of Italians gathered on ships and departed their homelands, knowing it was for the better. First arriving in the East Coast in cities such as New York and New Orleans, the Italian immigrants struggled in the United States and came to realize it was not a land of paradise. Working conditions and wages were not much better than in Italy and life became difficult away from home. However, Italians began making their way over toward the West Coast and settled in California, most popularly in the city of San Francisco. Northern and Southern Italians flourished in both the fishing and winery industries in their respective manners. Southerners mostly dominated the fishing industry and Northerners in the wine industry. The similar terrain in California and their backgrounds were able to help them develop different experiences in the United States. Through these similarities, however, they were both able to stay true to their culture, avoiding full assimilation into American society.
Credits
Marco Bonjrada and Adam Gilani