There hasn't been much of an "Italy" until about the time the USA got a second coast. And the warfare that lead to it happened mostly under the general banner o

There hasn't been much of an "Italy" until about the time the USA got a second coast. And the warfare that lead to it happened mostly under the general banner of independence, so an already-independent republic failed to register as an enemy. The unification wasn't a goal, it was a sacrifice taken to have a better chance at independence.