9781422277423

1 2

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

the jobs were not particularly difficult. They were repetitive and did not require much skill. They did not pay very much, either. But there were a lot of them, more than could be filled by native populations. Immigrants could help satisfy the demand. Trouble in Greece A fewthousand emigrants had left Greece in the 1870s and 1880s. Then, in the 1890s, Greece faced a crisis. Its economy was narrow and fragile. The country’smain export was currants, a dried berry similar to a raisin grape. Francewas themain buyer, but then the French government put a high tax on Greek currants so French people would instead buy those that were grown in France. The bottom fell out of the Greek currant

A crash in the Greek currant market was one reason immigration began to expand.