The immigrants who moved from Italy in the late 1800s and early 1900s were poor, illiterate, workers and education was often the least of their worries in the hard lives they lived (Cannato). Although much of the Italian population in America at this time could not read of write, the words they spoke helped them to build their voice by communicating the values which defined them as a people. Pain was felt by the Italians due to social conflict, discrimination, and harsh labor conditions, but the experiences that these people lived through helped to build upon their identity and gave them something to fight for.
Vanzetti's final speech
The Sacco-Vanzetti case served as an example of the extremities that persecution due to xenophobia and nationalism could reach in the U.S. In the trial, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian immigrants with anarchist affiliations, were accused and sentenced to death in a case that did not procure sufficient evidence against them (History). Despite the pain that the immigrants experienced, it is only because of it that they were able to establish their identity. As demonstrated by the final words of Vanzetti’s famous final speech before his execution, the “agony” that Italians felt was also their “triumph” (Vanzetti). This paradox demonstrates the lasting effects of Italian perseverance on their voice in American history because although Italians suffered greatly, as a culture they prevailed due to the cause they were able to rally.
Giovannitti's address to the jury
The Italians were a large presence in the labor movement due to the amount them who worked and factories and their attitude that a person can't receive anything "from nothing" (Campochiaro). In a statement at court following the murder of strikers at the Lawrence textile factory, Arturo Giovannitti, an Italian-American organizer at the Industrial Workers of the World and labor reformer, used allusions to convince people to view the organization as one made up of “dreamers” rather than “fanatics” (Giovannitti). By comparing the nature of the labor reform to movements that were controversial in their time, such as those of Socrates and Jesus Christ, he asserts his cause as one that is just. Giovannitti employs ethos in this sense because the figures to whom he alludes are leaders who fought for freedom and truth; therefore, it is implied that labor reform would be a benevolent force in the lives of many people. Despite that the Italians struggled initially for their rights as laborers, their perseverance helped the labor movement to achieve many of it's successes and their identity as hard-working reformers remains.