Italy and the American Revolution

There was, as most know, no united country called Italy at the time of the American Revolution. The Italian peninsula was still divided among a collection of minor states and the dominions of the Pope, most of them under the direct or indirect rule of some major European power, usually Austria. However, Italians played a considerable part in the American war and events in Italy, both historic and contemporary, inspired America's Founding Fathers. The independence movement in Corsica, first against Genoa and later against France, was something many Americans looked to and, of course, the historic legacy of the Roman Republic had a major influence on the establishment of the United States government.

On July 1, 1777 the U.S. government assigned Ralph Izard as Commissioner to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando III, but he was never received and formal diplomatic recognition was never extended to the United States by Florence. That was most likely due to the opposition to the American war by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II who was concerned that his own subjects might follow their example. However, there was still a desire for commercial ties. Ragusa, in what is now Croatia, which had a large Italian presence, established trade links with the United States through Italian agents in France such as Francesco Favi and Giovanni Fabronni. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany never recognized the United States prior to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. However, there were those who did, though some were quite late such as the Duchy of Parma which recognized the American government in 1850.

In 1796 the King of Naples officially recognized the United States of America, though full diplomatic relations were not established until 1832 due to the tumult caused by the French Revolutionary Wars. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1802. The Papal States, while waiting a long time to extend official diplomatic recognition to the United States, did open its ports to American trade in 1784 and this was at the instigation of the Papal Nuncio in Paris, not by the Americans. The United States was also allowed to have a consulate in Rome from 1797. The Republic of Genoa recognized the United States in 1791 though that relationship did not last long since the republic was annexed by France in 1805. Oddly enough, one Italian state that was quite unfriendly to the new republic in America was the older Republic of Venice. The Venetian ambassadors in France and Spain were approached by the American envoys but Venice refused to recognize the American government and ignored an effort at correspondence with the Venetian ambassador in Paris. The only reason for this seems to have been a reluctance on the part of Venice to risk endangering their trade with Britain or upsetting the Austrians. As it turns out, the American republic received more support from the monarchies of Europe than from the republics, as surprising as most would probably find that today.

Italian Fascism in the United States

Paolo Ignazio Thaon di Revel

In 1924 Count Ignazio Thaon di Revel traveled from Italy to the United States to reorganize Italian-American supporters of Fascism into the Fascist League of North America or FLNA. The first incarnation of the FLNA had been founded earlier by Dino Bigongiari, Professor of Italian at Columbia University. So it can be seen that the drive toward Fascism was instigated by Italian-Americans in the United States and not by the directive of the Fascist government in Rome, though no doubt Mussolini approved. Count di Revel, however, in late 1924 took central control as President of the Fascist Council for the FLNA which stood for the opposition to radicalism, chiefly instigated by the Bolsheviks and their supporters in America (many of which were deeply imbedded in the labor unions). One member said they stood for opposition to “atheism, internationalism, free-love, communism and class hatred” which is as good a summary as any. The official oath of the Fascist League of North America stated:

I swear to my honor
To serve with fidelity and discipline the Fascist idea of society - based on religion, the Fatherland, and the family, and to respect the authority of the League and of the hierarchy and tradition of our race.
To love, serve, obey and exalt the United States of America and to render obedience and respect to its constitution and its laws.
To keep alive the cult with Italy as the Fatherland and eternal light of civilization and greatness.
To combat with all my might theories and ideas tending to subvert, corrupt, and disgrace religion, the Fatherland, or the family.
To do my best to improve my culture, my physique and my morals, to render me fit for the part I am to play in serving the nation in its hour of greatness.
To submit to the discipline of the hierarchy of the Fascist League of North America.

The FLNA attracted a great deal of criticism in the United States and other Italian-American groups, such as the Sons of Italy, condemned the organization. This threatened to damage relations between the U.S. and Italy, particularly when powerful politicians began calling for a Congressional investigation of the group. In 1929, to put a stop to such difficulties, Count Revel announced that the FLNA was disbanding, having, at that time, a membership of 12,500 in 80 branches across the country. Nonetheless, throughout the 1930’s many pro-Fascist Italian language newspapers and radio broadcasts were available to the Italian-American population, some of which had quite large audiences. One of the most prolific was the Italian Library of Information in New York City under the direction of Ugo V. D’Annunzio, son of the famous poet and nationalist. These included information on Fascist economics, the corporatist system, Italian history and the Italian contribution to the exploration, settlement and progress of America.

When the Second Italo-Abyssinian War broke out in 1935, most American sympathy was with Ethiopia, like most of the rest of the liberal-democratic world. However, Italian-American opinion was more divided and particularly as many African-Americans adopted the cause of Ethiopia, many Italian-Americans naturally took the side of Italy. Some volunteered to go and fight for Italy in Abyssinia, joining the 221st ‘Italiani all’Estero Legion of the MVSN Fascist militia (the “Black shirts”) which was made up of Italian expatriates from around the world. In the United States itself, violence sometimes erupted between African and Italian-Americans with shops being vandalized and so on. Yet, not everyone took the side expected. The noted African-American entertainer Josephine Baker (later a friend of Princess Grace of Monaco) was shocked that so many of her countrymen would sympathize with a regime that still enslaved their fellow Africans to the point that she expressed her wish that she could organize a volunteer corps of African-Americans to fight for Italy against Ethiopia.

Dr. Salvatore Caridi of the Italian War Veterans

On the world stage of course, the biggest result of the Ethiopian war was the open defiance of the League of Nations and the eventual alliance of Italy and Germany in the “Pact of Steel”. This change was mirrored in America as well as Italian-American Black shirts made common cause with the German-American Brown shirts in the United States. The Lictor Federation, led by Joseph Santi was one such group (founded by Domenico Trombetta). Dr. Salvatore Caridi was the leader of another, the pro-Fascist Italian War Veterans and in 1937 he and about 500 Black shirt Italian-American war veterans appeared at a gathering in New Jersey of the German-American Bund led by Fritz Kuhn. Caridi was one of the speakers and he encouraged his listeners concerning their political enemies that, “…if they insult Mussolini or Hitler we can punch them in the nose!” On one occasion they also joined forces with the strange American group known as the Silver shirts of William Dudley Pelley for a joint-meeting in support of the Nationalists in Spain, denouncing the Spanish republican government and communism in general.

Italian-American Black shirts

Exactly how strong these Italian-American Black shirt groups were cannot be known. Their sympathizers tended to inflate their numbers whereas their opponents tended to try to minimize them by downplaying the size of their membership. Studies have shown that about 90% of the Italian-language press in America was generally favorable toward Mussolini and his Fascist regime. And, needless to say, there were always plenty of anti-Fascist Italian-Americans, though as with similar groups elsewhere these tended to be on the far-left and often included communists and anarchists. These would ultimately have a longer life as the international situation developed. When World War II broke out in Europe, pro-Fascist Italian-Americans generally favored, like others, the policy of American neutrality. Most realized that the United States would never take the side of the Axis powers and so were content to push for the best reasonable position in their view which was for America to simply stay out of the fight.

Salvatore Caridi and Fritz Kuhn

All of that, of course, came to an end with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. When, a few days later, Italy declared war on the United States, it became “open season” on all those Italians and Italian-Americans in the country who had voiced support for the Fascist cause. Many Italian-language media outlets were closed down by the government and known Italian-American Fascists were arrested. Those on the west coast were forced to move inland and many had their homes and businesses seized. Although not as well-known as the Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans and German-Americans were also arrested and put into internment camps for varying periods of time after the U.S. entered the war. However, the vast majority of those who were interned were Italian nationals rather than Italian-Americans who were citizens or who had been living in the United States for many years.

Italian-American Black shirt girls

Certainly those who had been prominent supporters of the Fascist regime could count on close scrutiny by the authorities, including such figures as Joseph Ferri in California, the aforementioned Joseph Santi and Salvatore Caridi in New Jersey, John J. Olivo, Paul Lucenti, Joseph Bono, Ralph Ninfo and Floyd Carridi in New York, Luigi Scala in Rhode Island, Father Arthur W. Terminiello of Mobile, Alabama and so on. The vast majority, of course, of Italian-Americans embraced the cause of the United States wholeheartedly and served with distinction in huge numbers during World War II. However, as with the Germans, the Japanese and even the Soviets, Fascist Italy was not without its supporters in America. They are not much remembered today but there was a time when they caused considerable alarm even into the halls of power in Washington DC.

Italians (in the Black shirts and white trousers) at a Bundist camp

Italian-American Fascists at Camp Siegfried (FBI photo)

Italian-American Hero Francis Vigo

One Italian who became a celebrated hero in the American War for Independence was Francis Vigo. A Piedmontese, he was born Giuseppe Maria Francesco Vigo on December 13, 1747 in Mondovì, Italy. Originally a soldier of fortune, like many Italians at the time, he came to America as part of the Spanish army stationed in New Orleans, Louisiana. When his service was finished he opened a fur trading business in the (then) frontier town of St Louis, Missouri in 1772. In 1783 he moved to Vincennes, Indiana and opened another fur trading business there, buying and selling among the Native Americans and the local settlers. When the American War for Independence broke out, Vigo aided the patriot cause and is most famous for his work as a scout and what we would today call an espionage agent for George Rogers Clark, leader of the rebel forces on the western frontier. While gathering information for Clark, Vigo was captured by Native Americans in service of the British Crown and handed over to the local British Governor, Henry Hamilton (aka "Hamilton the Hair Buyer" for his policy of rewarding Natives for the scalps of rebels).

Hamilton suspected Vigo of aiding the American rebels but as he was legally a subject of the King of Spain, he could not be held and as a possible traitor and so he was paroled but kept under close watch. However, Spain and France were both sympathetic to the American cause and there was also religious solidarity on the part of Catholics on the frontier in opposition to Protestant Britain. So, Father Gibault, the local Catholic priest, organized the French population of Vincennes to protest to the Governor for Vigo's release, even threatening to cut off the supplies sustaining the British garrison at Fort Sackville if Hamilton refused. Hamilton released Vigo but made him promise not to "do any thing injurious to the British interests on his way to St. Louis." Vigo was nothing if not honest and so he returned to St Louis first and then traveled to Kaskaskia to inform Colonel Clark of the British defenses at Vincennes. He had kept his word not to do anything to harm British interests "on his way to St Louis" while still carrying out his mission on behalf of Clark. Because of the information he provided, Clark was able to take Vincennes in 1779.

Vigo was also a very successful businessman and he was the leading financial backer of the American cause in the old northwest (as what is today known as the midwest was called at the time). He willingly exchanged paper promises from the Continental Congress for hard currency that was actually valued and useful. Unfortunately for Vigo, he was never repaid so his support for the cause of independence was a complete sacrifice for him. After the war, he continued his business, expanding his trade network to the east coast and in the early 19th Century was responsible for the establishment of Vincennes University as well as becoming the commanding colonel of the Knox County Militia before his retirement in 1810. He died on March 22, 1836, an honored and respected figure in the community but still not compensated by the American government for the great losses he incurred on their behalf. A monument in his honor today stands in the George Rogers Clark historical park in Vincennes, Indiana.

Columbus Day Controversy

Today is Columbus Day in the United States. In Mexico and much of Latin America it is celebrated as El Dia de la Raza (the Day of the Race) and it is National Day in the Kingdom of Spain. Sadly, some have seized upon the occasion to make the intrepid Italian explorer the scapegoat for the entirety of all the ills that came to Americas from the time of his discovery to the present day. It is, of course, absurd to say the least of it but it has gained ground with many because of 'political correctness'. Columbus, a man who was seeking a westward route to Asia and happened upon the Americas in the process is actually being held to blame for the devastation of the Native American populations by disease, for the entire period of European colonization, all of the clashes between European and European-descended peoples and the natives, even for slavery. To call that unfair would be an understatement. Columbus was an explorer, a navigator, a man hired to do a job and nothing more. It is a gross injustice to blame him for every ill that came after in all the centuries that followed. Some localities in the United States have, in an effort to gain favor with modern leftist sentiments, have replaced the celebration of Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples Day". Of course, there should be no problem with having a day to celebrate Native Americans (African Americans have an entire month). However, it is completely uncalled for to deny Columbus his holiday in the process and is an act of bigotry against Italian-Americans, the one group more than any other who have stood up in defense of Columbus and his place in history.

In making this point, I have had some dispute with me the assertion that replacing Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples Day" is discriminatory against Italian-Americans. But, how can it be otherwise? The truth of it is easily illustrated by imagining what would happen if another holiday was changed in the same way. Certainly if St Patrick's Day was done away with, this would be seen as offensive to Irish-Americans and if someone proposed replacing Martin Luther King Day with some other holiday the person in question would certainly be accused of racism against African-Americans. So, it should likewise be considered perfectly natural for Italian-Americans to regard efforts to do away with Columbus Day as offensive to the Italian community. Columbus was not a villain, he was a driven, courageous and deeply religious man who changed the course of history with his discovery. Of course, everyone knows that Columbus was not the first European to visit America but it was his voyage that mattered most.

As for the huge loss of life among the Native American peoples, this was certainly a tragedy but it was not as though it was the result of some genocidal scheme on the part of Columbus. The vast majority of the Native Americans who died did so as a result of the diseases carried by Europeans which they had no immunity to. It was an accidental and inadvertent tragedy caused by the coming together of peoples. To blame Columbus for this would be just as unfair as blaming Asians for the Black Death in Europe or holding Gaetan Dugas morally responsible for every person in America who has died from AIDS. It is also ridiculous to hold historical figures to the standards of contemporary morality which has certainly changed dramatically since 1492. There was nothing like the modern conceptions of human rights, civil rights, racial and gender equality and so on in the Fifteenth Century. By the standards of his time and place, Columbus was an upstanding man and a very devout Catholic, a third-order Franciscan in fact who actually had a cause for canonization opened on his behalf in 1877 with the support of Pope Pius IX. And, as Pope Leo XIII said, Columbus expanded human knowledge with his discovery. What others did with that knowledge is their responsibility and not his. The only alternative would be for humanity on opposite sides of the Atlantic to continue in ignorance and isolation.

However, it is particularly disgusting to see people who are themselves of European descent in the United States heaping blame on Columbus. Without his discovery and without European colonization, with all the good and bad aspects of it, neither the United States or Canada or Mexico or any of the countries of North, Central and South America we know today would exist. The populations, particularly in Latin America, which are largely of mixed European and native ancestry would also not exist. And surely, if Columbus had never made his voyage but if all European powers had remained on their own continent, they would be held to blame for being isolationists and not sharing their innovative technologies with the rest of the world. The Native Americans were so primitive compared to Europeans exactly because they had been isolated from the rest of the world where trade and commerce led to exchanges of information and knowledge from East Asia to Western Europe, going both ways. It must also seem extremely unfair for the Italian-American community in particular given that the one holiday celebrating a great Italian figure from history is the one constantly attacked and blamed for colonialism when, unlike Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and the Scandinavian countries, Italy never had any colonies in the New World. It just goes to show that those who cry the loudest about justice and fairness are usually the most unjust and unfair of all.

Italians on the Fourth of July

Today the United States celebrates "Independence Day" in honor of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Most people are probably unaware of the Italian contribution to the cause of American independence, but it was actually quite significant. Filippo Mazzei, a doctor from Tuscany, was a close friend and neighbor of Thomas Jefferson in Virginia and influenced his writing of the constitutional draft of 1783 when he wrote in a letter to Jefferson his view than all men are born free and independent. Italians participated in the fighting, on the American side, with three all-Italian regiments in the French army which fought at the siege of Yorktown, the battle credited with winning the war for the United States. Most of these soldiers were from Savoia and one was even known as the "Royal Italian Regiment". The others were the Third Piemonte and the 13th Du Perche. Although a small minority at the time, many Italians served in the American army, with a number winning great fame for their service. Captain Cosimo de Medici was an officer in the North Carolina Light Dragoons and was rewarded after the war with a large land grant in North Carolina. Lieutenant James Bracco served in the Seventh Maryland Regiment (some Italians had moved to Maryland when it was first established as a Catholic colony under the English Lord Baltimore) but was killed at the battle of White Plains in New York. Captain B. Tagliaferro was deputy-commander of the Second Virginia Regiment and an assistant to General George Washington.

There were Italo-American families which served in the Revolutionary War who would go on to become some of the most prominent in the country and see further service in all the great struggles of American history such as the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the War Between the States. The first White settler to Ohio was Major Giovanni Belli, a veteran of the American Revolution and the Quarter-Master General of the U.S. Army from 1792 to 1794. Francesco Vigo served as a scout, a spy, a colonel of volunteers and frontiersman in the Revolutionary War and is usually credited as being the first Italian-American citizen of the United States. In a more general way the Founding Fathers of the United States were deeply influenced by Italian culture and history, particularly the success of the great maritime republics. When the United States Navy was created three of the first five warships were named after famous Italians; the Christopher Columbus (the Italian who discovered the Americas), John Cabot (the Italian who discovered Canada) and Andrea Doria (a great Italian admiral who fought the Barbary pirates). The classical styles of early American buildings and monuments also show a clear influence from the Italian Renaissance. Most of the Italians who served in the Continental Army were listed with Massachusetts regiments but the largest concentration was of course the more than 1,500 Italians of the three regiments in the French service drawn from Savoia and Piemonte.

Upon reflection, this contribution makes perfect sense. Italian explorers had led the way to the colonization of the Americas and so naturally played a part in the independence of the new countries that emerged in the Americas. Italians would play an ever-increasingly role in the history of the United States from that time on.

Italian Tea Party

Who knew the Italians had started their own "Tea Party" movement? I certainly didn't but, even though I think Italy should look to the example of her own history rather than that of other countries, in the fiscal context I think it's good to see. Don't think I didn't notice that Confederate ensign down there on the table either. From the photos they have posted, the Italian Tea Party doesn't look like a very large group (which is to be expected) but it does look to be a very active and motivated group and that often counts for much more than numbers. The "Tea Party Italia" page on Facebook has 5,257 members as of this writing and they have their own web presence and a flickr photos page. It seems that have had a number of meetings, some public events and the like, all aimed at promoting the "Tea Party" principles in Italy.

I would not have favored the original American Tea Party but in this day and age I am pretty much behind their calls for fiscal responsibility, less government spending, lower taxes, more accountability and government that is smaller and more efficient rather than an all-expansive state trying to care for everyone from cradle to grave. I have no doubt that the financial ruin Italy currently finds herself in is due to the decades of big-government, socialism and state-run economies. I would prefer that their tricolore have a Savoy coat of arms in the middle but there is no bar against monarchists agreeing with the economic policies of the Tea Party. There are even monarchist libertarians in a number of countries that I know of. More economic freedom and personal responsibility seems to me to be something Italy would do well to try. The country has gone so far for so long in the opposite direction that a dramatic shift would probably do some good. It might also help the cause of national unity.

I'm sure not everyone would agree with that but if the areas of the south could no longer benefit from the prosperity of the north, everyone being responsible for their own welfare, it might make the north less restive and force the south to develop and adopt some policies that have brought prosperity to others but which they have been able to shrug off. And any group that puts the flag of Texas side-by-side with the Italian colors automatically looks good to me. For all the Italian libertarians out there I would remind you of just a few facts. It was King Vittorio Emanuele III who said that the Italian people were individualists and a republic would never serve them well (I think that has been proven true). Also, if the idea of private ownership is superior to public ownership (which I agree with), why should that principle not extend to the head of state as well? The libertarian principles argue for a monarchy since a King who will be passing the crown to his son has a vested interest in the success of the nation, he will take better care of it because it is "his" crown and his country rather than just some temporary office he holds on behalf of others (such as political parties and big business money lenders). So, think about that, slap a cross and crown on those flags and I will be proud to be with you all the way. W il Re! W Italia!

Italians in the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the Italian-American community was well represented on both sides of the north-south divide. Due to the majority of the immigrant population being in the north, most served on the side of the Union but there were Italians who fought for the Confederacy as well, although they tend to be less well known. Most of the Italians in the Union army were recruited from New York City and included prominent Italians such as Francesco Casale, Luigi Tinelli, Enrico Fardella and Eduardo Ferrero. Casale was the father of the "Italian Legion" and later helped organize the most famous Italo-American unit of the war, the Garibaldi Guard. Francesco Spinola, another leading Italian-American, helped recruit a number of militia units and was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to be their general. Four prominent Italian-Americans rose to general rank in the Union Army, including General Luigi Palma di Cesnola who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. At the time, with the division of America coinciding with the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, there was no more prominent Italian than Giuseppe Garibaldi, both for his actions in South America and his battles to unite the Italian nation. President Abraham Lincoln offered Garibaldi the rank of major general in the Union army but Garibaldi politely refused because he would not have complete independence and Lincoln would not declare that the purpose of the war was to eradicate slavery.

The most famous Italian-American unit was the 39th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, better known as the Garibaldi Guard. Although its ranks included a number of ethnic groups, the majority were Italians and that was shown in their name, the Italian tricolor (shown above) they carried into battle and the flamboyant uniforms they adopted, patterned somewhat after the famous Bersaglieri (Italian light infantry). The Garibaldi Guard fought in almost every major action of the eastern theatre of war including such famous battles as Harper's Ferry in 1862, Gettysburg in 1863, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg in 1864. They were also present at the final Appomatox campaign in 1865.

In the south, the largest city and biggest port was New Orleans, Louisiana and so it is not surprising that many immigrants landed there, including a number of Italians. When Louisiana left the union a call went out for volunteers to defend the new Confederacy and among the most prominent recruiters in New Orleans was Captain Joseph Santini and many Italians volunteered. They formed the Garibaldi Legion, led by Santini and with other Italian-Americans as his top officers, they too showed their ethnic pride by wearing cocked hats with plumes in the Italian national colors as well as adopting the uniform red shirts of Garibaldi's famous "Thousand" (The Garibaldi Guard in the north wore Union blue). They paraded in New Orleans for the first time in March of 1861. The problem with the Garibaldi Legion and Guard was that there were not enough Italians in America at that time (especially in the south) to maintain their numbers throughout the long and bloody conflict. In the south, the Garibaldi Legion was brigaded together with another ethnic unit called the "Spanish Hunters" (in Spanish of course) in the Louisiana militia, later grouped as the 6th Regiment of what was called the "European Brigade" of the Confederate army. They fought with great courage and tenacity up until the capture of New Orleans by General Benjamin Butler, USA.

All of this came, of course, before the largest waves of Italian immigrants touched American shores, yet, whether they landed in the north or the south they showed themselves willing to fight for their new country while still remaining attached in their hearts to their own homeland which was only then becoming a reality as a united, Italian nation.