Italian Politics

Politics in Little Italy

      Taylor street, or "Little Italy", was not only home to countless incoming Italian immigrants in the later 1800's and early 1900's, but also a complex blend of political participation from this newly created community of Italians.


      Despite their numbers though, they weren't very successful in actually gaining office; no Italian has ever became a mayor of Chicago, for example. This is mostly because of how a lot of Italians were unskilled workers, and were unfit for politicians. Additionally, because racial profiling, a lot of Italians were viewed as "mobsters," and were looked down upon, ruining their chances of gaining public office. However, this connection did have at least some merit to it.


      The main problem of the Italians in gaining office was the lack of unity in politics, despite being a large population. The Italian immigrants had no clear favor in political party or stance at the time period, and was split apart by radical groups such as socialists and anarchists. 


      While they saw little success in politics themselves, Italians nonetheless provided a staggering impact on the political machine of Chicago through what was known as the "Italian vote" which fluctuated year to year. This refers to how the Italian voters were capable of shifting a vote in their favor because of their massive population. Several sources impacted this, such as the practice of trading votes to employers in exchange for job opportunities or services, and the fact that Italians generally voted for policies that favored workers.



      Most of this is because the Italians never came to America for political reasons anyway; they mostly immigrated for work, most notably on the railroads. Because of this, a vast majority of Italian immigrants favored politicians who supported labor, and they were able to sway votes in their favor that way. Despite not being well versed in politics, their sheer numbers more than made up for this when it came to the polls.




      Outside of voting, the Italian mob is notable for a major way Italians impacted Chicago politics with major organized crime syndicates such as the Chicago Outfit, started by James Colosimo, which was heavily linked to the Italians. Their ability to bribe government officials put them in a stance of power by providing immunity to the law by taking advantage of widespread corruption in the local government. This was only magnified by the prohibition in the 1920's, which was when the mob was most active in bootlegging.





      Below is a video about one of the mob's most famous members, Al Capone, and his extraordinary impact on the city around him.

     


      

      
      

Italian Immigration

     Many factors led to the new wave of Italian immigration in the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. In the early 20th century, natural disasters struck the poor southern part of Italy such as the Messina earthquake. The earthquake, followed by a tidal wave caused destruction and widespread poverty across the south, making life difficult for the lower class.
     Another reason to leave Italy would be the time period after Italian unification. Following the unification of Italian states into the Kingdom of Italy, many of the people felt dissatisfied as it mainly benefited those living in the North.. Although united, many of the population of the new kingdom felt divided from the other former states due to difference in language, culture, etc. The agricultural, rural south paled in comparison to the wealthier northern part of Italy. Those living in the south faced horrible living conditions. Many of those living in poverty found themselves living in one room houses and were isolated from the rest of the country due to the lack of roads in Italy.

     Specifically, farmers struggled since the tools they had were practically useless as they did not have the modern technology to get the work done efficiently. On top of that, Italy faced an agricultural disaster as grain prices fell and disease destroyed many of their crops. With these crop failures, much of the population was led to starvation. The country also had to deal with the problem of overpopulation. After unification, Italy experienced a large growth in population. This made it harder for those in the lower class to find job opportunities and to move up the social ladder.
     Not only that, but following the long war leading up to unification, the need to raise taxes ensued to pay off the debts. This angered many people, mainly the contadini, or peasants. They were unable to pay the ridiculously high taxes, thus resulting in the government raising the taxes for people who could afford it.
     Politically, Italians wanted to flee the country once war was declared on Austria and after Mussolini came to power. As a result of this political chaos, crime rates shot up and drove away Italians.
     To escape this, Italians (mainly farmers, sharecroppers, and artisans) began to flee to America in search of a better life. The nation appealed to them due to its higher wages for the workers compared to Italy's workers, lower taxes, and many job opportunities. The idea of having a stable job with better pay and working conditions than those in Italy tempted the people to make the move to America. For farmers, they were attracted to the rich, fertile soil America had to offer.

     For the rest of the immigrants, many jobs opened up as a result from the Industrial Revolution that was happening in America at the time. With the multitude of factories and shops opening all across the nation, the need for unskilled workers or cheap labor skyrocketed. Many Italians felt drawn to Chicago as it was in need of many workers in factories and on the railroad. Since Chicago was the center of most railroads, it became the fastest growing city, which increased its need for more workers.
     Although the majority of the Italian immigrants were lower class, illiterate males, women were able to take advantage of the new opportunities in America. Women began to emigrate in the early 20th century as they were pulled by the idea of reuniting with families as well as having more opportunities in America as women. They worked in textile factories or sweatshops to support themselves and give them a new found sense of independence and freedom despite the somewhat low wages.
     The immigrants were drawn to the political safety and the time of peace America was in. Compared to Italy, America was a much safer place to live in with it's lower crime rates and lack of political corruption.
     However, many immigrants did not stay in America for too long. Many only wanted to earn enough money and move back to Italy to improve their lives there, such as buying their own land. They became known as ritornati, or returnees. About 30-50% of Italian immigrants ended up moving back to their homeland with enough money to start over and improve their lives.

Economic Realities of Italian in Little Italy, Chicago

                Ever tasted the sweet sensation of cookeries in Chicago. In Little Italy, there are blocks and blocks of sweet shops that sell pastries and pastas. These shops were emerged by Italians coming to Chicago for jobs but their lives were not always easy to live in the economy of Chicago. Italians were not always the best group that American society would gladly make them fit in. They were Catholic, did not speak English, and showed their culture instead of assimilating which made them harder to find jobs. This did not stop them from working hard and eventually earn their spot of where they should really be in American society. Of course they earn their spot by working and prevailing in their limited jobs they have when they first got to Little Italy and made their name in the neighborhood.  

               The mass waves of Italian immigrants made businesses flourish. Cookeries became the most popular ethnic cuisines in America that resulted in successful bakeries and restaurants. By 1925 the Italians owned 500 grocery stores, 257 restaurants, 240 pastry shops, and many food related business. Italian also worked in railroads, factories, labor intensive jobs, and construction sites. The International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union of America controlled by dishonest laborers. This union made some considerably progress in increasing wages in many places like Chicago but was take down by the government. Italians had the background of farming but realized quickly that they needed money to invest lands and pay for equipment and also a fare for the railroad on the countryside. The Italians later moved to the city because they wanted to be close to their own kind and had many job opportunities with low standard wages. With women not having the same opportunities as men, many worked in textile factories sewing clothing products. Mining was quite popular to work due to having lots of room for people to hire. Mining accidents often occur with caves collapsed upon miners. Children as low as ten years old worked in full-time job. An Italian family wanted to have each family member work in someway shape and form to help support their budget. 

                Here shows a fifteen year boy working as a messenger for a telegraph company which shows Italians families wanting their children to help support them. Having a fifteen year boy smoking shows that parents do not care what the child does as long as the child is financially supporting the family. Kids today seeing this photo might be thinking about education, condition, and if he was brought up right. Well Italian children dropped out of school due to both not liking and supporting their family. With making less than a dollar per day, they often lived independent and also their family don't care about them so they brought things they shouldn't have like pipes because they don't know that smoking is bad for your health. 

              This shows an Italian market. It shows Italians being merchants and trade with local people. Many skilled Italians merchants open their own shop and traded with people living in Chicago. This prevented Italian men of having to work in dangerous and bad working conditions such as mining that could possibly lead to death. They were fortunate enough to be skilled with trading because if they didn't have this skill, then the competition between the Irish and the Italian would increase.  The market consisted fish stores, sweet shops, and pastry shops. The Italian made shops with their skilled trading system they made a market after them. The market is beginning to show the social aspect of Italians on their community with trading to their own kin, but also to the people who didn't even want them to come to the United States. Trading to many people can make their businesses flourish and raise the economy that results in making the financial life easier. 

             Many Italians were not famous in society due to their class and the jobs they have so they could easily be framed of a crime.This song shows a tribute to Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti two Italians immigrants who were electrocuted for first-degree murder on a guard and the cashier of a shoe company. They both did an anarchist movement against the violence and oppressive government. Sacco was a shoemaker and back then it was not prominent but he worked in the Slater-Morrill Shoe Factory and Vanzetti worked as fish seller. Both jobs was not big between 1870-1930 so hearing theirs was rare. Their financial life was hard with both making less than two dollars per week. Both were convicted with murder by fitting the qualifications of the actual robbers. Fit in as Italian  
anarchists, and Sacco had the same bullets of the crime scene when they were arrested and inspected. Imagine if Sacco and Vanzetti had prominent jobs instead of jobs that had no income. Then their names would be heard and wouldn't gotten the police to be suspicious of them due to knowing who they were and fit the qualifications. How the economic realities of a person could make a difference if that person had a job that could make a salary versus a job just enough to make a living or even less.  

            Finally, the realities of Italian in the economy of Little Italy Chicago was rough especially in 1870 to 1930 but they eventually pulled through. The jobs they had to work were bad, bad enough to cause death and overworked. With having limited jobs opportunity due to having racial prejudice they still worked hard with the jobs they have and made the economy go to their way. The Italians in the near future made a neighborhood we known today as Little Italy that subsides the harsh economy realities they were living in.

Social Activities

            Chicago’s famous Little Italy founded one of the richest cultures outside of a home country. From the end of the 18^th and the beginning of the 19^th century, Italians, mostly male, immigrated to escape extreme poverty. America would provide them with religious freedom, economic opportunities and independence to practice their distinct culture. The heavy reliance on religion brought the Italian community in Chicago together; compared to their divide country of provinces. In continuation, The Italians cuisine is a large contributing factor to their well-known culture which provided them with unique business advances.

            Early Italian immigrants, strictly Roman Catholic, desired to continue their religious practices. Almost as if to develop their demise even further, Irish American clergies dominated most of the churches (Italian Imm.) - hatred towards Irish branched from the constant fight over jobs such as working on railroads or in factories. The role of the church was an essential aspect to Italian life – “[i]talian Americans showed their faith more externally and emotionally then Irish Americans… placed more emphasis on the saints” (Petrini 75) - as more Italians came over many established their own parishes. As they built religious architecture around towns, many churches became the center for social gatherings. Parks for children and homes expanded around the parishes, developing the importance of religion into their everyday life.              

Although many cultural customs stayed with Italian immigrants, relating to religion, marriage traditions diluted due to the language barrier and social behaviors regarding it: “[a]ccording to Italian tradition, not just the couple but their parents had to agree on the match” (Petrini 30). So the majority of single men that came to America desired to return home for marriage even though this was incredibly difficult. Many historians today call these immigrants “birds of passage”, which referred to people that never planned on making the states a permanent home (Digital). When one would return home, the American attitudes and new found wealth changed the expectations and ambitions of young Italians back at home, alluring them to leave (Petrini 32).

             Family was at the heart of every Italian community. A traditional Italian family was “father-headed, but mother-centered” (Italian Amer.). Women inside the home had significant roles in keeping the family network afloat; although outside the home women were not allowed to receive education and employment. Due to such traditional upbringings many generations began to see tensions arise; one example of this refers to women’s right to proper education around the 1930’s. In addition to the father, children were expected to help by providing labor and assistance (Italian Amer.). Many worked in factories or in the home with their mother. Schooling for children didn’t become of much importance due to American schools unable to compensate for their difference in language. Although Italians failure to learn English held them back academically, it helped them feel connected to each other, bringing a family dynamic to the area (Petrini 81).   

Later on, around the 1920’s many Italians were criticized for their character in regards to the prohibition period and their “gangster” persona perpetuated through films and literature (Italian Amer.). Many faced verbal abuse, insulting stereotypes, and physical violence (Petrini 89), which in response this probably brought them together even more than before. Prior, through xenophobia and Americanization, congress began to limit immigrants, especially Italians. Even during World War II Italian immigrants faced this hostility as a result of America fighting their home country who sided with Germany. Italian families and areas stuck together holding on to their strict beliefs as they have done before.    

 Religion and family is a crucial element of Italians that enriched Little Italy, another importance, that still shows today, is the food. When Italians came to America they brought their delicacies with them, which was considered exotic to Americans who have never experienced an Italians plate. This influenced the Italians to re-create their home dishes and making roof top gardens which incorporated traditional produce, kept their heritage alive (Petrini 77). Today Italian cooking has dramatically distanced itself from the traditional meals, which would incorporate coarse black bread, wine, and specialty dishes on holidays. The Americanized dishes such as pizza and spaghetti and meatballs are not generally known in Italy (Italian Amer.) these deriving from the original ideas of Italian cuisine fails to include the ingredients they rely heavy on.   

              Overall socially, Italians in Little Italy of Chicago were like most Italian immigrants coming to America from 1870 to 1930’s. Their family and religious traditions were held upon a very high pedestal, being the most important thing culturally that brought them together. Through judgements they continued to thrive publically by staying together. In addition to culture, their extravagant menu excites Americans still today with memorable dishes and restaurants that are sprinkled over Little Italy.         

This video shows the importance of Italian cuisine in their culture, expressed through the many restaurants that are still standing today in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood.