Why Italians Came to America

Poverty, natural disasters, political corruption and upheaval caused Italians to go to America. Italy’s agricultural problems were numerous and complex. In the first place, land was concentrated in the hands of a few owners with landless peasants working the soil.

Post-war poverty had given a new impetuous impetus to emigration, and many families from Minturna left for the United States. Colomba Romano followed earlier family members to America.  Colomba tells of her first impressions of the United States.

 Colomba Romano

"I saw a different world, a world in motion, as opposed to the static nature of our lands. A world that moved under the impulse of modernity. And then I was struck by the freshness of the people, something other than the dullness and roughness of our people. They all seemed cheerful, lively, serene and not tired at all.

For me that was a nation of justice, of free and smiling people, where it was necessary to work, without wasting time, and where it was also possible to earn money, to make a career.

For me, the United States offers life opportunities to people. A decent life, which in Italy, especially at that time, was not easy. What happens in foreign policy, American economic dominance, the exploitation of resources, the wars of recent years, that American culture are matters that I cannot understand, that go beyond what I can judge. I would say that if the USA does this, there is some reason. But then I don't know anything more, I just remember what America gave me.”

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