Over years, many ethnic groups  traveled to the United States, settled, worked, and gradually assimilated to be called “American”. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, an uncommon ethnic group to the United States, the Italians, immigrated to the United States in masses. The Italians brought with them their family-centered peasant cultures and settled in their own localized groups, maintaining whatever Italian culture and traditions they bought with them. However, with time, the Italians and Americans started interacting more often and an exchange of cultures began. The Italians eventually assimilated into American culture and became “American.”

The foreign-born Italian population in the United States’ prior to the 1880s was small. The majority of Italian immigration to the United States occurred between 1880 and 1920 when the Italian unification posed economic hardship (mainly due to the feudal system prior to the 1800s, in which Northern Italians were the land-owners) on Southern Italian farmers. Between 1876 and 1924, 4.5 million Italians immigrated to the United States. However, the mass Italian immigration was put to an end by the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, which put severe quotas on the number of immigrants allowed to enter. Therefore, the foreign-born Italian population stopped growing. Accordingly, Italian cultures and traditions of today and the decades prior can be traced to the cultures and traditions of the  Italians who came to the United States between the 1880s and 1920s.

Newly arrived  Italians settled in groups within their densely Italian populated communities in the Northeast. For example, Sicilians settled with Sicilians, and Neapolitans settled with Neapolitans. Each cluster  was surrounded by other ethnic groups, who the Italians eventually assimilated with. The Italian immigrants were able to maintain their culture in these communities. Italians maintained use of their own language through newspapers and entertainments such as theater. Also, each cluster of Italians maintained their own family and cultural values. Despite such attempts to preserve their culture, with every generation onwards, the Italians made strides towards becoming assimilated.

Second generation Italians followed in their parents’ footsteps by working menial jobs, living in their segregated communities, and marrying amongst each other. The foreign-born Italian parents did not value education because time spent in school was time spent away from work. In the 1920’s and 30’s, however, the next generation valued education more and often attended vocational schools. Second-generation Italians still continued working in the factories, and in the 1930s, the second-generation Italians joined hands with Americans in labor unions and lobbied for benefits, a step closer to becoming one with the Americans. Following World War II, through their proximity to urban centers or economic growth and rising levels of education, Italians reached managerial positions and attain other white-collar jobs. By 1991, Italians had on average, met or exceeded the average national wage, which proved that they established a solid foothold in America.

We can thank the courageous first generation Italians for laying the groundwork for the development of pizzerias, pasta restaurants, and Little Italys we see today.