“Between 1880 and 1920, more than 4.1 million Italians were recorded as entering the United States” (Daniels, p. 188). Italian immigrants after 1880 were distinguished from other immigrant groups by the themes of religion, work, family orientation, politics, and education. The 1880s brought a change not only in the number of Italian immigrants, but also in their characteristics as a group. This immigrant group was incredibly male-dominated, compared to other immigrants of this era, with most settling in New York and Chicago. The living conditions these Italians encountered were not pleasant. It was common for them to live in very overcrowded four-bedroom apartments. Compared to other immigrants, they lived in some of the worst living conditions, usually near industrial construction sites. These apartments generally did not have plumbing. As unskilled workers, they tended to work manually, on railways and in steel companies, in dangerous conditions. These work areas were so dangerous that over forty deaths were common each year. Sometimes Italians in the construction industry lived in boxcars while working on a long-term project. This can be seen in the third image of the additional links, Italian Labourers, Padrones and Pernicious Pasta. The covered wagon is not very large and is shared by three workers. There is obviously no plumbing, very dirty and probably no furniture inside. The men look filthy and exhausted in the photo. The working day generally lasts more than ten hours per day, or more than five days per week. It is therefore understandable that some simply choose to live on the construction site. Although they had worked all these hours, many were still picking through trash to find food and trash. Many of them are... middle of paper ... your Italian has its redeeming features” (Reading 11, p. 2). These best traits are their honesty, their impetuousness, their faithful wives and devoted mothers, and finally their happiness and lightness. As for his lightness, Riis compared the Italian to a child in that there is no social filter, which may seem rude. Although there are mixed feelings toward Italians as a whole, Riis believes that they are preferable to Germans and other immigrants because they can be exploited. He feels pity and sympathy for them. The comparison with a child brings back an image of children of the golden age (slideshow 7: 33). In this image the child is depicted as being serious and not as we usually think of a child as. If an immigrant is like a child, then Americans must teach him to become a responsible American and educate him to progress, which is called progressivism..