“Motivated by self-interest, an immense syndicate of numerous subagents and recruiters spreads out in the Italian countryside to hunt men, just like in Kansas they track down wild beasts. All of these people from various occupations, live speculating and profiteering on the poverty of the unfortunate emigrants.” (Giovanni Florenzano, 1874)
 
Most historians view 1880 as the beginning of mass immigration of Italians to the U.S., when high taxes, unemployment, and poverty drove peasants from their homeland. However, evidence shows the exodus began in 1872, triggered by an international scandal requiring the intervention of the U.S. Secretary of State and the Italian Prime Minister.