Italian-Americans -- 1930s
The American experience for Italian immigrants (with particular emphasis on the 1930s) is the salient topic for this paper. The materials presented from scholarly sources in this paper show the positive and negative impacts experienced by Italian-American immigrants; those sources will also be critiqued and analyzed in the context of the experiences, including impacts such as discrimination that Italian-Americans went through during the 1930s.

Italians Arrive in the United States

Author Dale Anderson writes in his book Italian-Americans that between 1901 and 1910, there were more than 2 million Italians that came into the U.S. As immigrants. And from 1911 to 1920, another 1.1 million immigrants arrived (Anderson, 2006, p. 33). Those huge numbers of immigrants tailed off dramatically between 1921 and 1930, when about 455,315 Italians arrived. One main reason for the drop-off in immigration from Italy was the 1924 National Origins Act, which limited immigration, Anderson reports, adding…...

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Works Cited

Anderson, Dale. 2006. Italian-Americans. New York: Gareth Stevens.

Cavallero, Jonathan J. 2004. "Gangsters, Fessos, Tricksters, and Sopranos: The Historical Roots

Of Italian-American Stereotype Anxiety." Journal of Popular Film and Television.32: 50-63.

Lee, Sandra S. 2008. Italian-Americans of Newark, Belleville, And Nutley. Mount Pleasant,

[footnoteRef:5] Although Cavour could not pursue Napoleon III to continue war with Austria due to Napoleon III facing pressure domestically and abroad, there were long-term gains made by him. Kingdom of Piedmont was recognized by many world powers. Pope's power along with hat of Austrians was significantly reduced after wars in 1950s and 60s. Nonetheless, it was due to the valor of Giuseppe Garibaldi that enabled the unification to be complete after succeeding Sicily from ourbon rulers.[footnoteRef:6] Naples was also conquered by Giuseppe Garibaldi after succeeding in capturing Sicily. The former Kingdoms of Sicily along with the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia got united in 1861 and Cavour enabled the ascension of Victor Emmanuel II as the King of Italy. [5: Kellogg, William O. arron's AP United States History. (arrons Educational Series Incorporated, 2010).] [6: Davis, John Anthony, ed. Italy in the nineteenth century: 1796-1900. (Oxford University Press, 2000). ]
On the other…...

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Bibliography

Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James a. Robinson. The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation. No. w7771. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000.

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso Books, 2006.

Campanella, Anthony P. Giuseppe Garibaldi: Garibaldi and tradition. Committee of the International Studies Garibaldi, 1971.

Carter, Nick. "Nation, nationality, nationalism and internationalism in Italy, from Cavour to Mussolini." The Historical Journal 39, no. 02 (1996): 545-551.

The biggest reason for this was financial. Farming takes time to sow, grow and harvest, and there was simply not time for that; the Italian immigrant needed to make as much money as he could in the least time possible; farming simply would not work (2008). Farming also implied a certain amount of permanence, which was not the plan for many Italian immigrants (Mintz 2007).
Land in America was also quite expensive. There had been free land in the west that was given out under the Homestead Act, but that was no longer available (2008). The Italians with their agricultural backgrounds became mostly urban people (Oracle 2010). apczynski (2008) posits that another reason could have been because farming simply reminded them of the poor conditions that had left behind in Italy and they wanted to do something different. Because of the vastness of the land in America, many Italians considered…...

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References:

Cavaioli, Frank J. (2008). Patterns of Italian immigration to the United States. The Catholic social science review,13, 213-229.

Di Benedetto, Alessandra. (2000). Italian immigration to the United States.

Retrieved on September 20, 2010, from http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US2/PAPS/db-italy.html

Diner, Hasia R. (1983). Erin's daughters in America: Irish immigrant women in the nineteenth century. Baltimore: John Hopkins University.

Italian-Americans
The standard history of the Italian-American experience, La Storia by Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale, speaks of the "five hundred year" span of that experience.

This is a somewhat whimsical reference to the Italian (specifically Genoese) explorer Christopher Columbus: although Columbus' 1492 voyage of discovery did indeed bring an Italian into North American waters, one can hardly call Columbus an "Italian-American." However the annual federal holiday of Columbus Day was initially proposed by a first-generation Italian immigrant, Angelo Noce, and promoted by Italian-American fraternal groups (including the Roman Catholic fraternity, headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut, whose predominantly Italian-American members are called "Knights of Columbus"); the holiday stands as an annual reminder of the size and vitality of the community of Americans who claim descent from Italian immigrants (primarily during the great wave of Italian immigration in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was recognized in the period immediately following…...

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Works Cited

De Marco-Torgovnick, Marianna. Crossing Ocean Parkway. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Dougherty, Molly and Tripp-Reimer, Toni. "The Interface of Nursing and Anthropology" Annual Review of Anthropology, 14 (1985): 219-241.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers. New York: Little Brown, 2008.

Mangione, Jerre and Morreale, Ben. La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian-American Experience. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.

Even the better aspects of the Corleone family are shown in a light that makes them seem contrary to the personalities and wills of other, more "typical" Italian-Americans. That is, their positive qualities are shown in the film to be aberrations; departures from the Italian-American norm. Don Corleone's initial reluctance -- refusal, in fact -- to become involved in any way with the drug trade makes him appear noble, yet it is at the expense of the broader Italian-American image. The other Five Families, who are also of course Italian-Americans, are either in favor or at least not against this new money-making effort, and eventually Don Corleone is forced to conform with this more sinister version of the Italian immigrant. Not only does this film contain the self-reinforcement of Italian-American stereotypes, it actually implies tat resisting emulation of these stereotypes is impossible.

Though it takes a lighter and far less bloody…...

People were traveling to lands like Jerusalem or Egypt, the Greek Islands and to cities like Barcelona, Lisbon or Bruges. Merchandise and aliens were bringing along traditions and civilizations different from their own. Another factor that influenced a cultural unity in Italy during the Renaissance was according to elch the claim of being the inheritor of Rome every major Italian city had.
The culture of the antiquity, Latin or Greek had a major contribution not only in shifting theological and education views of the middle Ages from scholasticism to the humanistic views brought from philosophers like Cicero, Quintilian, Augustine, Plato and Aristotle.

Two major scholar figures in the "humanization" of the educational field were Guarino Veronese and Vittorino da Feltre.

They created a new model of teaching to students, based on the learning of Latin and Greek and the study of Aristotle, Cicero and Plato and their model became the source of…...

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Works Cited

Abbagnano, N. Dictionary of the History of ideas. Renaissance Humanism. 2003. Retrieved: Jul 26, 2008 at  http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-19 

Burckhardt, J. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Retrieved: Jul 26, 2008 at  http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/3-4.html 

Harris, J. Byzantium. Byzantines in Renaissance Italy. 2002. Retrieved: Jul 26, 2008 at  http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html 

Welch, E. Art in Renaissance Italy, 1350-1500: 1350-1500. Oxford University Press, 2000

Think of it as such -- our Confucian, or long-term strategy for life, as termed by Hofstede is both far reaching in its scope into the past, yet alas, often quite limited in its gaze into the future. This has proved of great benefit to Italian business in such traditional industry as the leather trade of shoes, the garment industry, the wine industry, and yes, of course food -- just look on your shelves at home and I'm sure you'll see some Barilla pasta, just as I'm sure those fine loafers you wear have a label from my country -- but in terms of economically innovative industries such as technology, we lag behind. Also, we lag behind the British and German in the financial industries, because of our approach to time and family, as well as our governmental instability and our fragmentation as a nation in terms of our…...

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Works Cited

Hofstede, Geert H. Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Sage Publications, 2001.

Italian Renaissance
Renaissance ("Rebirth") refers to the period after the Middle Ages when a series of dynamic intellectual, cultural and artistic movements from the 14th to 16th century catapulted Europe towards rapid development leading to the Age of Enlightenment, the industrial revolution and the modern time. During this rich period of exciting developments in arts, sciences and politics, Italy was the major catalyst and became the cultural leader of Europe. It also produced several outstanding artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and Raphael who changed the face of European art forever and are worthy representatives of the Renaissance era. This paper is about the Italian Renaissance and the impact of the three great artists on European culture.

Background

The period following the eclipse of the Roman Empire around 500 AD until the start of the "Renaissance" at the start of the 14th century is known in history as the Middle Ages of…...

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Works Cited

Barnes, Bernadine. "Michelangelo." Article in Encyclopedia Encarta, 2003

Hooker, Richard. "Backgrounds to the Italian Renaissance." World Civilizations Web-site. (1996). Updated 6-6-99.. Retrieved on April 9, 2004 from: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/REN/BACK.htm

Jeffery, David. "A Renaissance for Michelangelo." National Geographic, December 1989

Magurn, R. Saunders. "Leonardo da Vinci." Article in Encyclopedia Encarta, 2003

However, there was also an embrace of past, existing forms of Mediterranean literary ideals, such as the Italian sonnet form that became the Elizabethan sonnet form. The latter modified the original Italian sonnet's rhythmical constraints for the English language.
The focus upon Italy was not simply intellectual but was also aesthetic. The ideal of the beauty of Italy, and the passionate atmosphere of the land is evidenced in such plays as Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," and the construction of Italy as an exotic and romantic place, both far and near from England. Also, the Renaissance's fascination with Classical Rome is reflected in England's near0obsession with such texts and plays revolving around classical allusions and themes, and the predominance of Italian motifs in British education, such as the need to study ancient Roman authors as Julius and Augustus Caesar, both of whom figure in plays such as "Julius Caesar" and "Anthony…...

I had a lot to learn from Giorgione. Having been taught in the fresco technique by Ghirlandaio, I was not acquainted much with oil painting and did not truly know the mastery of this type of painting. How to mix the oil and the paints so that one was in enough quantity? More so, how to use enough oil so as to obtain the right amount of darkness or pale shade of a color? It was Giorgione who taught me the technique of oil painting on canvas and it was during this time that I started this type of painting.

A liked to take my subjects from popular Venice, from the streets, from common people and Venice had plenty of these to provide. Of course, this was the time of religious painting, not only in Venice, but throughout Italian Renaissance, yet I was taken by the mystery that common subject could…...

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Bibliography

 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09162a.htm 

  (for Giorgione's the Tempest)http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2000-06.html 

 http://www.britannica.com 

4. Vasari, Giorgio. The Life of Painters, Sculptors and Architects. Bucharest 1968. I used this extensively for accounts on Ghirlandaio, Giorgione and the Bellini brothers. Even if somewhat subjective, it gives a good knowledge of the times.

It was inspired by a passage from the Book of evelation (6:1-8) in the Bible. The piece depicts the scene as was described in the evelation passage, of the four horsemen that would appear from the heavens at the time of the Apocalypse. Durer did not have the advantage of colors as Botticelli did in his paintings, but the shades and the lines created on the engraving gave off the desired effect: one of dark menace and foreboding of what it might be like should the horsemen come down in the future. The piece, while German in origin, is now located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Botticelli's purpose for the Birth of Venus is more whimsical, as opposed to Durer's more violent depiction of a Biblical passage. Both works intend to convey different emotions. Botticelli shows the fantasy and pleasing figures of Venus and her…...

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References

"The Birth of Venus." Botticelli | Birth of Venus. 2008. Web. 19 Feb. 2011.  http://www.botticellibirthofvenus.com/ .

"Albrecht Durer: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (19.73.209)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000 -- .   (October 2006)http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/19.73.209 

Italian immigrates tended to cluster into groups related to their place of origin. For instance, the Neapolitans and Sicilians settled in different parts of New York, however, what seldom occurred were Italians enclaves, or all-Italians neighborhoods. he Italians would disperse themselves in other immigrant groups, such as, the Irish, the Jews, the Germans, and the Poles, while remaining in their clusters. Furthermore, Italian immigrants had a tendency to settle in different regions of country based on where they came from in Italy. he Sicilians resided in New Orleans, the Neapolitans and Calabrians in Minnesota, and the northern Italians in California. Most of the Italians were concentrated in the mid Atlantic states in 1910 with 472,000 in New York and nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania.
hese immigrants supplied low-cost labor and had an enormous impact on production. hey took work where available and by their sheer numbers they drove down wages, incurring…...

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The influx of immigrants impacted the character of the cities in which they settled creating neighborhoods known as Little Italy, Germantown, Chinatown or Little Poland. Italian immigrates tended to cluster into groups related to their place of origin. For instance, the Neapolitans and Sicilians settled in different parts of New York, however, what seldom occurred were Italians enclaves, or all-Italians neighborhoods. The Italians would disperse themselves in other immigrant groups, such as, the Irish, the Jews, the Germans, and the Poles, while remaining in their clusters. Furthermore, Italian immigrants had a tendency to settle in different regions of country based on where they came from in Italy. The Sicilians resided in New Orleans, the Neapolitans and Calabrians in Minnesota, and the northern Italians in California. Most of the Italians were concentrated in the mid Atlantic states in 1910 with 472,000 in New York and nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania.

These immigrants supplied low-cost labor and had an enormous impact on production. They took work where available and by their sheer numbers they drove down wages, incurring resentment from those already established in their adopted country. Most immigrants settled in the North where jobs were available. The use of standard, interchangeable parts, especially important in the manufacture of guns, clocks, and sewing machines, allowed the nation to advance technologically by using unskilled workers.

Immigrants from all corners of the world provided much needed labor to operate newly developed factories. There contribution to the improvement of the infrastructure of this country was a significant stimulant to the burgeoning American economy. Much of the country was built on their backs, and this country is very different today because of their labor.

When Mayes was writing Bella Tuscany, she was likely learning just as much about Italy and herself, and the nature of travel, as when she was actually experiencing the events. In Italy, Francine Mayes was seeking a different kind of life, and also a different kind of identity. earning how to write about Italy offers the opportunity to understand both the country and the writer's own soul better, and to re-live the experience of travel with a more critical eye.
earning something new can change your life and identity just as much as traveling -- to take an extreme example, someone who learns how to be a doctor is forever changed, not simply in terms of his or her new professionalism, but also in the way he or she sees the human body. earning how to do a new sport or yoga move can give people added confidence in the…...

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Learning something new can change your life and identity just as much as traveling -- to take an extreme example, someone who learns how to be a doctor is forever changed, not simply in terms of his or her new professionalism, but also in the way he or she sees the human body. Learning how to do a new sport or yoga move can give people added confidence in the way that they move, and view their competency. And even not learning something, like Mayes' difficulty in learning Italian can teach humility. "Those of us who try to learn later must locate the new language in an entirely different territory" -- she mourns bemoaning her old brain. All learning experiences take us to new countries, not just on land, but also in our minds.

Frances Mayes, Bella Tuscany, (New York: Broadway, 2000), pp.177-178

Mayes, p.234

rote one later historian: "Historians who wax eloquent and indignant -- with considerable reason -- about the sack of Constantinople... rarely if ever mention the massacre of the esterners in Constantinople in 1182 ... A nightmarish massacre of thousands…the slaughterers spared neither women nor children, neither old nor sick, neither priest nor monk. Cardinal John, the Pope's representative, was beheaded and his head was dragged through the streets at the tail of a dog; children were cut out of their mother's wombs; bodies of dead esterners were exhumed and abused; some 4,000 who escaped death were sold into slavery to the Turks" (Carroll 1992, p. 131).
The policies that gave rise to such hatred were the result of Imperial policies and the imprudent regulation of duties, not simply religious prejudice: "Almost equally disastrous was the fact that the powerful Italian maritime republics were able to coerce the Emperor into granting…...

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Works Cited

Carroll, Warren. The Glory of Christendom. Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 1993.

Davis, William Stearns. A short history of the Near East: from the founding of Constantinople

(330 A.D. To 1922). Macmillan Co., 1922 (Original). Cambridge: Harvard University, 2007

Mansel, Phillip. Constantinople: City of the World's Desire 1453-1924. John Murray Publishers

Culturally, the development of northern European art was not unlike that of Italy, particularly when powerful princes created individual states based on wealth and leisure which encouraged the growth of the arts based on commerce and on the patronage of the rich merchants who controlled these states.
This new and versatile artistic medium was exactly right for the formal intentions of the northern painters who wished to create sharp-focused, hard-edged and sparkling clarity of detail in the representation of objects and figures. While the Italian artists were interested primarily in the structure behind the appearances, being perspective, composition, anatomy, the mechanics of bodily motion and proportion, the northern painters were intent on creating appearances themselves, being the bright, colored surfaces of objects and figures touched by natural light.

For example, in Renaissance Italy, Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks (ca. 1485) reflects all of the artistic integrity and beauty…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

de la Croix, Horst and Richard D. Tansey. (1990). Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 6th ed.

New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Inc.

One of the more shameful moments in American history was the establishment of internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.  Ostensibly started because the United States was at war with Japan, it is interesting to note that there were no similar internment camps for people of Italian or German descent, despite the fact that Italy and Germany were also part of the Axis powers that fought against the Allies in World War II. 

Prior to World War II, Japanese began immigrating to America for work opportunities.  They initially immigrated to Hawaii, which was annexed by the United....

Thomas Aquinas was an Italian philosopher who was eventually canonized and made into a saint.  Because of his sainthood, there are myths surrounding Thomas Aquinas that may be difficult to distinguish from the factual information surrounding his life.  As a result, you may want to be wary when looking at religious sources of information about his life, if you are supposed to be focusing on fact-based biographical-type information.  However, investing the mythology of his life would also be a worthwhile topic of pursuit, such as his proof of the existence of God.....

Ballet is a classical form of dance that originated in the 15th century during the Italian Renaissance. It is a highly technical and artistic dance style that emphasizes precise movements, grace, and elegance. Ballet dancers undergo rigorous training and follow a structured technique that includes specific positions of the arms and feet, intricate footwork, and fluid body movements. The dancers often wear pointe shoes to perform on their toes and create an illusion of weightlessness. Ballet includes various styles, such as classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and contemporary ballet, each showcasing different choreography and music. It is widely performed in professional....

One recent news story related to drug trafficking in Italy is the arrest of Italian mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale in Dubai in November 2021. Imperiale has been on the run since 2016, when he was convicted in Italy for drug trafficking and sentenced to 30 years in prison. His arrest highlights the global reach of Italian organized crime groups and the challenges law enforcement agencies face in tracking down and apprehending these powerful criminals.

Another potential essay topic related to drug trafficking in Italy is the increasing use of cryptocurrency by drug traffickers to facilitate their illicit activities. In recent years,....