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The “New” Immigrants. Southern & Eastern Europeans After 1882. The “New Immigrants”. Polish Immigrants. Poland divided between German, Austrian & Russian empires In all 3 commercial agriculture, industrialization & population increase pushed surplus ag . labor off the land
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The “New” Immigrants Southern & Eastern Europeans After 1882
Polish Immigrants • Poland divided between German, Austrian & Russian empires • In all 3 commercial agriculture, industrialization & population increase pushed surplus ag. labor off the land • 3 phases of Polish immigration: • 1870 – 93: German sector • Artisans, intellectuals, lower gentry & farmers • Ended by U.S. depression & improved conditions in Germany • 1890 – 1914: Russian sector • Smallholders & ag. wage laborers; some small town folk • Ended by World War I • 1880 – 1914: Austrian sector • Peasants, day laborers & servants • Ended by World War I
ZaChlebem: For Bread • Migrants moved in search of work, pulled by urbanization & industrialization • Left depressed rural areas for commercial & industrial ones • Went from rural to urban areas • Seen as necessary sacrifice to preserve family • Viewed destination as God’s provision through Mary’s intervention on behalf of suffering Catholics • Not poorest of poor, but upwardly mobile peasants • Gov’t attitudes & private opinions mixed • Germany tried to replace Poles with Germans • Russia & Austria tried to keep cheap labor supply
Polish Immigrants in America • 2.5 million Poles came to the U.S. in late 19th – early 20th century • Few had craft skills or factory experience – mostly farmers & day laborers • Vast majority became unskilled factory labor in U.S. • Factory managers simultaneously reinforced & repressed ethnic identities • Ethnic segregation of dept.s used to impede unionization • Changed names, dress, language, etc. to achieve conformity
Polonias • Polonias = attempt to recreate traditional Polish village • Failed due to increased social & geographic mobility • Middle class fought with clergy for control of churches & communities • Polish Catholic nationalism promoted as alternative to labor radicalism • Rev. Francis Hodur founded Polish National Catholic Church in 1904 • 30 parishes & 30,000 members by 1916 • ¾ of all immigrants belonged to nationalist fraternal organizations by 1910 • Polish Roman Catholic Union (1873) • Polish National Alliance (1880) • Polish Falcons (1887) 1910 Polish Steelworker’s Home, Pittsburgh (recreated at John Heinz History Center)
Italian Immigrants • Divided into 2 phases: • Early immigration from the North (Venetia, Lombardy, Piedmont) • 1890s-1910s immigration from the South (Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily) • 1875-1915: 14 million left Italy – 9/10 to rest of Europe • 2/3 left temporarily • 2.1 million Italians arrived in U.S., 1901-1910, but only 1.3 million in 1910 census
Little Italy • Naples was largest immigrant -sending port by 1907 • 30%-50% return migration rate • 97% of all Italians after 1880 entered through NYC • NYC had almost 400,000 Italians by 1920 (1/4 of all Italian Americans) • Men outnumbered women 3:1 • Mostly manual laborers • Padroni (labor contractors) exploited them shamelessly • Localist traditions (campanilismo) hampered formation of ethnic fraternal organizations Little Italy, New York City