Final answer:
Second Wave Immigrants, such as Italians, left their countries due to economic opportunities and political instability, including famines, persecution, and compulsory military service. They faced labor exploitation and discrimination in the US but were driven by the hope of achieving the American Dream.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Second Wave Immigrants, including Italians, left their countries primarily due to A) Economic opportunities and political instability. They were pushed out by ongoing famines, religious, political, or racial persecution, and the need to avoid compulsory military service. They were also pulled by the promise of consistent, wage-earning work and the hope of a better life in the United States.
Many of these new immigrants, particularly from Southern and Eastern Europe, undertook physical labor at lower pay than other workers, often in dangerous jobs such as construction. They lived in segregated slums and faced discrimination and violence similar to what African Americans endured at the time. Despite these challenges, the dream of economic betterment and the pursuit of the American Dream compelled them to migrate.
Witnessing political unrest, land shortages, crop failures, and even racial violence in their homelands, many Italians and Eastern Europeans, including Jewish individuals escaping pogroms, sought refuge and opportunity in the United States. Their arrival, primarily between 1890 and 1914, marked significant demographic shifts and added to the multicultural fabric of American society, though not without challenge and adversity.