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Causes of the Italian mass emigration

PAGE 1 BY LINDA MAGNUSSON

By the year 1871, 400 000 Italians had emigrated, but this number was to be increased. In the 1870, 20.000 Italians emigrated per year. But, people attracted by the promises of successful lives in America came to form a mass emigration with 205.000 emigrants a year by 1888. In 1891, as much as 1,5 million Italians lived abroad in the hope of successful futures. And many more continued to arrive to the land of many promises.

Initially, most emigrants hailed from Northern Italy. However, as time passed, the south became the place of origin for most emigrants. With this shift also came an increase in those leaving the nation. Between 1898 and 1914, approximately 750 000 Italians emigrated each year. From 1906 to 1915, as much as 2 million Italians emigrated. The reasons for the mass emigration of the Italians were many, and there were differences in the reasons that made people emigrate from the south and north of Italy. However, it is known that the standard of living became worse in the whole of Italy between 1870 and 1900, especially on the countryside. Diseases and starvation were the main causes of migration. Food had become the biggest cost for an Italian family. Many peasant families spent about 75 % of their money on food. Despite the high cost, this food oftentimes failed to even contain enough nutrition to sustain a person. In the North, the population suffered from pellagra, a disease which often resulted in insanity and death, whereas in the south, fatal malaria plagued the nation's residents. At first, malaria only struck in the coastal areas, but this changed as deforestation, erosion and flooding enabled the malaria to spread. The conditions which people endured in these areas were unbelievable as 2 million Italians died each year. Immigrants at Ellis Island. Click to view whole media. To make matters worse, the agricultural system of Italy was not modernised, and there was little hope of improving the situation. Even so, some regions enjoyed extended railroads, which allowed peasants living in the areas around the railroads to concentrate on a single crop and allowed them to export it, as well. However, the railroads were not powerful enough to noticeably reduce the number of people that emigrated to the U.S. Another important factor in the emigration of the Italians, was the agricultural crisis that Italy suffered in the 1880s. During this time, Italian agriculture was hurt by the increasing amount of products from America that invaded Italian markets. The price of wheat and other products fell, and unemployment increased as landowners and peasants no longer could profitably trade. Many northern Italians, who probably suffered most from the crisis, didn’t see any other alternative than to emigrate. In the 1890s many southern Italians also started to emigrate due to economic troubles. Also leading to the great numbers of Italian emigrants was a lack of democracy (few Italians had the right to vote) and a low literacy rate. Italian emigration was assisted greatly through improved transportation by steamships and cheap railroads. As the journey became easier, few people hesitated to leave the country where they had been born.


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References
11 Adrian Lyttelton "Chapter 9 - Politics and Society 1870-1915" The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy George Holmes. New York - U.S., by Oxford University Press Inc. 1997. p.238,240

12 Harry Hearder "Chapter 8 - The Fascist Disaster, 1922-45" Italy: A Short History . Cambridge - U.K., Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge 1990. p.233



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