4 RITORNO A NEW ORLEANS
Gli ultimi anni
dell’Ottocento furono quelli della rinascita di New Orleans che da città
preminentemente agricola si trasformava in una metropoli industriale,
godereccia e dissoluta. Sorsero bordelli, casinò, locali notturni e teatri di
varietà con attrici e ballerine che arrivavano perfino da Parigi. La vita
notturna diventò la vera attrazione della città. I battelli che scendevano
lungo il Mississippi raccoglievano tutta la feccia umana che incontravano
nelle città rivierasche e la scaricavano a New Orleans, che diventava sempre
più ingovernabile. Nel giro di pochi anni la popolazione si moltiplicò al
punto che fu necessario ingrandirla, costruendo nuovi quartieri. Nacquero
così strade, piazze, ville, edifici pubblici e case di civile abitazione con
tutte le infrastrutture necessarie. La luce elettrica fu un evento storico
che rivoluzionò la vita di New Orleans. Grazie ad essa, fu introdotto il
tram, veloce mezzo di comunicazione, che accorciò le distanze e che sarebbe
diventato, negli anni, il simbolo della città stessa. New Orleans, grazie
anche al golfo e al Mississippi, diventò uno dei centri commerciali più
importanti degli Stati Uniti. Le sue floride condizioni economiche attrassero
emigranti da ogni parte del mondo.
L’abolizione della schiavitù era stata la fine della manodopera a
costo zero. Di conseguenza le fiorenti piantagioni di cotone e di canna da
zucchero andarono in malora. A
portare un’ondata d’ossigeno all’agricoltura della Louisiana furono i contadini
siciliani che, attratti da un lavoro sicuro, arrivarono a migliaia. Essi,
infatti, oltre che grandi lavoratori, erano degli esperti coltivatori.
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4
RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS
The
last years of the nineteenth century were those that saw the rebirth of New
Orleans, which transformed from a primarily agricultural town into an
industrial metropolis, boasting of both the pleasurable and the dissolute. Brothels,
casinos, nightclubs, and music halls with actresses and dancers, who came
even from Paris, sprang up all over the city. The nightlife became the main
attraction of the city. Unscrupulous businessmen, gamblers, adventurers,
and gunslingers of all kinds flocked from all over America to New Orleans,
which became an ideal environment for their businesses. The boats that went
down along the Mississippi continued to collect all the human scum that met
in the coastal cities and unloaded them in New Orleans — which became
increasingly ungovernable. Within a few years, the population, thanks to
the arrival of tens of thousands of immigrants, had multiplied to the point
that it was necessary to build new neighborhoods. Thus were born new
streets, squares, public buildings, residential houses, and all the other
necessary infrastructures. In those years, electric lights also came to be,
and it was a historical event that revolutionized the lives of those living
in New Orleans. The nightclubs were filled with lights, and the tram also
made its appearance: a fast means of commute that would, over the years,
become a symbol of the city itself. Thanks to the Gulf and the Mississippi,
New Orleans was going to become one of the most important trading centers
in the United States, capable of absorbing the entire available workforce:
a situation that attracted immigrants from all over the world.
The civil war had shaken the entire nation, and particularly the Southern
States, whose economic and social life was completely unhinged. The
abolition of slavery was also the end of manpower at no cost.
Consequently, the flourishing cotton and sugar cane plantations were
ruined. The main surge of oxygen in agriculture was mostly made up of
immigrants from southern Italy, who, in addition to being expert farmers,
were hard workers. In fact, there were no buildings, roads, bridges, dams,
or tunnels where they did not lend their work. Many of them chose the
countryside around New Orleans, others devoted themselves to the crustacean
fishery, and the rest were divided between the port and the French Market.
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