Who Were the First Italian Immigrants to the United States?
- The first explorer at what was to become New York City harbor was Giovanni da Verrazzano, whom the Verrazzano Narrows bridge is named after. On June 2, 1635, Pietro Cesare Alberti became the first Italian to settle in the future United States, in New York.
- Filippo Mazzei, a friend of Thomas Jefferson, played an important role during the American Revolution. However, Italians were only arriving in modest numbers during the late 1700s and throughout much of the 1800s.
- The majority of Italians immigrating to the United States arrived from 1880 to 1924, with the most arriving from 1900 to 1924. Many Italian immigrants came from Sicily and southern Italy, often from rural areas and with little formal education.
- The number of immigrants allowed into the United States from southern and eastern Europe became severely limited in 1924 with the passing of the Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson Reed Act.
- The 2005-2007 American Community Survey three-year estimates from the U.S. Census indicate almost 18 million Americans with Italian ancestry. The majority of Italian-Americans live in the Northeast.
