Friendship, Crisis and Estrangement: U.S.-Italian Relations, 1871-1920

FRIENDSHIP, CRISIS AND ESTRANGEMENT: U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS, 1871-1920 A Ph.D. Dissertation by Bahar Gürsel Department of History Bilkent University Ankara March 2007 To Mine & Sinan FRIENDSHIP, CRISIS AND ESTRANGEMENT: U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS, 1871-1920 The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by BAHAR GÜRSEL In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA March 2007 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Dr. Timothy M. Roberts Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Dr. Nur Bilge Criss Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Dr. Edward P. Kohn Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Dr. Oktay Özel Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Dr. Tanfer Emin Tunç Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT FRIENDSHIP, CRISIS AND ESTRANGEMENT: U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS, 1871-1920 Gürsel, Bahar Ph.D., Department of History Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Timothy Mason Roberts April 2007 In the 1870s, the united Kingdom of Italy brought together nearly the whole Italian peninsula under a single flag, and the United States left behind a civil war and strengthened the country and its institutions. This dissertation is an account of the relations between the United States and Italy from 1871 to 1920. This era witnessed numerous important incidents like the mass Italian immigration to America beginning in the 1880s, military service and the problem of naturalization, the lynchings of Italian immigrants particularly in the southern United States, anarchism in both countries, Italian colonialist activities in North Africa, the beginning of American overseas expansion, and World War I. By analyzing both countries’ laws, political circumstances, internal affairs and ideological developments, the dissertation aspires to explore the aspects that shaped Italian and American foreign relations. While emphasizing these features, it seeks to clarify the fact that the main issue which both countries focused on was national greatness. Keywords: United States, Italy, foreign relations, late nineteenth century, Risorgimento, World War I iii ÖZET DOSTLUK, BUNALIM, YABANCILAŞMA: A. B. D.-İTALYA İLİŞKİLERİ, 1871-1920 Gürsel, Bahar Doktora, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yard.Doç. Dr. Timothy Mason Roberts Nisan 2007 1870’li yıllarda Birleşik İtalya Krallığı neredeyse bütün İtalyan yarımadasını tek bir bayrak altında toplamış ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri de bir iç savaşı geride bırakıp ülkeyi ve kurumlarını güçlendirmişti. Bu tez, 1871 ve 1920 yılları arasında Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ve İtalya arasında gelişen ilişkileri anlatmaktadır. Sözü geçen dönem, İtalya’dan Amerika’ya 1880’li yıllarda başlayan kütlesel göç, askerlik hizmeti ve vatandaşlığa kabul edilme sorunu, özellikle Birleşik Devletler’in güney eyaletlerinde İtalyan göçmenlerinin linç edilmesi, her iki ülkedeki anarşizm hareketleri, Kuzey Afrika’da İtalya’nın kolonileşme faaliyetleri, Amerika’nın denizaşırı genişlemesinin başlangıcı ve Birinci Dünya savaşı gibi sayısız önemli olaya şahit olmuştur. Bu tez, her iki ülkenin yasalarını, siyasi koşullarını, içişlerini ve ideolojik gelişmelerini inceleyerek, İtalya ve Amerika’nın dış ilişkilerine şekil veren şartları belirlemeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu konuların üzerinde dururken, aslında her iki ülkenin de içişleri ve dış ilişkilerinde odaklandığı ana unsurun ulusal büyüklük olduğunu vurgulamaya çalışmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, İtalya, dış ilişkiler, Risorgimento iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my parents for supporting me throughout my entire life. Thanks to their presence, I have learned the meaning of self-confidence and sanguinity. Next, special thanks to Dr. Mehmet Kalpaklı for providing me much-needed support. If I did not have the chance to go to Rome by benefiting from the financial aid of Bilkent University’s Department of History, this dissertation could never be written. I am indebted to my supervisor Dr. Timothy M. Roberts who is one of the most patient and concerned people in the world. He gave the entire manuscript a very careful reading for several times. Thanks to all of my dissertation committee members, Dr. Nur Bilge Criss, Dr. Edward P. Kohn and Dr. Tanfer Emin Tunç for their constructive criticism and comments. I would also like to thank Dr. Oktay Özel for his everlasting encouragement and support. As a consequence of the warm friendship which Drs. Gülriz Büken and Paul Latimer provided, the long and painful process of writing a dissertation became less difficult for me. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. John Grabowski and Prof. Rudolph J. Vecoli. I really do appreciate their intellectual kindness and support. Finally, all of my love and thanks to my beloved friends… v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ÖZET iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1The Argument and its Context 2 1.2 Sources 8 1.3 Dissertation Blueprint 10 CHAPTER 2. THE UNITED STATES AND THE ITALIAN PENINSULA: THE PRELIMINARY ERA 16 2.1 Italy before the Unification 16 2.2 The Italian Revolutions of 1848 and American Responses 21 2.3 The Unification of Italy 27 2.4 Garibaldi, “Washington of Italy 30 2.5 Mazzini and a Transatlantic Risorgimento 34 2.6 Italy, Rome and the American Civil War 39 2.7 Rome, the Italian Capital 46 2.8 Conclusion 48 CHAPTER3. IMMIGRATION, NATURALIZATION & CITIZENSHIP 51 3.1 Changing Times, Changing Immigrants: Italians in 19th Century America 53 3.2 Send them to L’America!: Italian “birds of passage” 54 3.3 Americans and Italian Immigrants 58 3.4 American Concept of Citizenship and Military Service 63 3.5 Italian Concept of Citizenship and Military Service 71 3.6 The Controversy 75 3.7 Immigration and Citizenship: The Case of Garibaldi 79 vi 3.8 “Good Americans” or “Good Italians” 82 3.9 American Duty to American Citizens 84 3.10 Disagreement over Dual Citizenship and a Naturalization Treaty 94 3.11 Conclusion 98 CHAPTER 4. MYTH OR REALITY? AMERICAN AND ITALIAN STEREOTYPES 101 4.1 The Definitions 102 4.2 Christopher Columbus 104 4.3 Giuseppe Garibaldi in America 114 4.4 Anarchists and Mobsters 119 4.5 American Heroes, Italian Dreams 127 4.6 Conclusion 131 CHAPTER 5. LYNCHING: A NEW PHASE IN U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS 133 5.1 Lynching, an “American practice” 135 5.2 Were Italians really “white”? 137 5.3 The Rehearsal and the Actual Mass Mob Lynching 141 5.4 The Tampa Lynching 146 5.5 Private Lynchings 150 5.6 Italian Lynchings in Colorado 155 5.7 Italian and American Reactions to Italian Lynchings 158 5.8 Conclusion 168 CHAPTER 6. THE MALFATTORI: ITALIAN ANARCHISM AND ITALIAN ANARCHISTS IN THE U.S. BEFORE WORLD WAR I 171 6.1 Luigi Galleani and La Cronaca Sovversiva 176 6.2 Carlo Tresca alias “Carluccio” 179 6.3 Conclusion 182 CHAPTER 7.American Imperialism: The Italian Perspective 188 7.1 The Spanish-American War 189 7.2 Italy and the Venezula Crisis of 1902-1903 200 vi 7.3 Conclusion 206 CHAPTER 8. AMERICA AND AFRICA: DIFFERENT TYPES OF ITALIAN COLONIALISM 209 8.1 From the Heirs of Ancient Rome to a “Proletariat Nation” 210 8.2 Italian Government’s Emigration Policy 216 8.3 Italian Agricultural Colonies in the United States 221 8.4 Tontitown 224 8.5 Conclusion 229 CHAPTER 9. THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I ON U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS 234 9.1 Americans and the Italian Army 235 9.2 Woodrow Wilson and the Italians 241 9.4 The War and the Peace Conference 253 9.5 Conclusion: Friendship, Crisis and Estrangement 257 CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSION: SACCO AND VANZETTI: TWO ITALIANS IN AMERICA 260 BIBLIOGRAPHY 264 APPENDICES A. Monongah Mine Disaster 281 B. The FBI Files-Carlo Tresca 288 C. Goiran’s Italian Army 301 D. Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points 308 viii LIST OF TABLES 1. Region and Country or Area of Birth of the Foreign-Born Population 50 ix LIST OF FIGURES 1 Map of Italy in 1815 15 2 Garibaldi Guard! 41 3 Two Boy Scouts Talking to Two Italian Immigrant Boys 64 4 “Scissors to Grind” 121 5 “When Verdi Plays the Hurdy Gurdy” 122 6 The Murdered Policeman 142 7 Albano & Ficcarotta 149 8 I Cinque Poveri Italiani 153 9 Theodore Roosevelt and Judge Bernard Barasa 205 10 Father Pietro Bandini 232 11 Father Bandini Celebrating Mass in Tontitown 233 12 The entrance of the Monongah coal mine after the explosion 283 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION U.S.-ITALIAN RELATIONS, 1871-1920 This study is an account of the relations between the United States and Italy from 1871 to 1920, and the story of two young nations aspiring to global power, and the relationship they made to contribute to the acquisition of power. The late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries witnessed numerous events that brought the United States and Italy into relations with each other, especially the mass Italian immigration to America beginning in the 1880s.

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