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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

The two exchanged photographs, and Hrisanthi came over as a “picture bride.”With her, she brought her intelligence, her determination, and her memories. Shewas leavingGreece, but shewas not leaving behind all that her country meant to her. That she would bring with her. AModernWorld B y the second half of the nineteenth century, the Second Industrial Revolution was well underway throughout the world. This period lasted roughly a century, beginning in 1850, and peaking from about 1870 to 1920. In the past, most people had lived in rural areas or small towns.

Cities were much smaller than they are today. The majorityof peopleworked at jobs that used the re- sources of the land, such as agriculture or logging. Most communities were largely self-sufficient . They might order luxury goods such as fancy cloth from distant places, but theycouldsurviveonwhat theycouldmake andgrow. The Second Industri- al Revolution changed all that. Technology was ad-

Greeks in Egypt

America was the big draw for most Greek immigrants, but it was not the only one. In the 1800s, the country of Egypt began recruiting all kinds of immigrants to come to the coun-

try and improve it. The British were put in charge of the military and police; the French took care of the ports; the Italians were brought in as architects; and the Greeks were recruited for their skills in agriculture. By the mid-1800s, the American cotton market was in trouble because of turmoil from the Civil War. Fight- ing disrupted supply chains , and after the war, the abolition of slavery meant the end of a huge, free labor market for plantation owners. Greeks in Egypt took advantage of this to build the Egyptian cotton market into an international powerhouse.