Italian emigration 1850-1920

The first thing that stood out to me about chapter 7 was the conditions that were experienced by the immigrating population from the port of Naples. This population consisted of mainly Italians, Greeks, and Syrians. Naples was also one of the largest ports at the beginning of the 20th century. So to find that the conditions were so disgusting and below standards that any human should have to experience was surprising. I felt POW or slaves could have possibly been treated better at times. I was also surprised by the fact that the majority of emigrants did not go directly to the U.S until after the turn of the century. Also, the Italians that did come before the 20th century seemed to be at a disadvantage. Like when the Irish were the new immigrant group, the first arriving Italians, especially the lower class, had the same struggle that would place them at the "bottom of the food-chain". "As early as the 1890s commentators were noting that the Irish no longer built the railroads and paved the streets; Italians did." pg 195