With what was promised in America, Emigrants really had no choice but to pack up their families and leave everything they had and knew when faced with their current poor living conditions, sagging economy, and the fear of their own government. The few that were successful returned to their homelands telling tales of all the good things but not about the hard times that they endured. Then you had those unscrupulous Americans that would be at each boat landing as Americas newest slaves were disembarking on what they believed to be a new beginning, ensnaring them in some sort of work scam that only led to the profit of the American and the pain and suffering of the emigrants. I can not say that any one group of emigrants suffered more than another but they all experienced their own ethnically specific hell.
An Italian emigrant fled a life of poverty, begging in the streets and the real possibility of being crippled to make more money, for this so called better life in America.
United States
United States
United StatesHaving heard that everyone in America was rich and other Italians had gone there and made plenty of money. To his dismay the dream of riches started rather poorly, working in the darkness of the bowels of the ship that would deliver him to the Promised Land. Upon arrival the dream did not seem to get much better, instead of hauling dirty coal the promised land offered nothing more than digging through garbage collecting rags and bottles. Eventually his lack of inexperience wore off giving way to the entrepreneur spirit that led this Italian to a successful shoe shine business. This is a good example of how the Americans of the industrial age took advantage of foreign emigrants, exploiting their ignorance or lack of preparation in making...