The silence of the Atlantians: Contact, conflict, consolidation (1880-1913)

The number of difficulties and real chances for disasters large and small being endless, one wonders how the Italian immigrants to the Americas withstood whatever life threw at them during their journey and resettlement, and moved on to forge themselves a new life. Perhaps, as befits the etymon of migrare, which from the Latin means simply “to move (on),” to go off somewhere or on to something else, their condition as migrants suggests two possible approaches, one literal: moving to another country; and the other metaphorical: engaging in activities such that the immigrant becomes somehow and perhaps inevitably someone else. We have seen the reasons why they left. 1 We know so many never completely severed the overstretched umbilical cord with their provenance, preferring to return, whether periodically owing to the seasonal ebb and flow of particular sectors, such as farming or construction, or maybe permanently for more complex reasons or even simply because they just “couldn’t take it.”.