Al Capone Biography

1058 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on the history of american gangs

“By Instinct Capone Was A Heartless Mindless Killer”

Considered the most notorious gangster in history, Alphonse Capone, otherwise known as Scarface Al, was born in New York, 1899, in a small apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Having many run-ins with the police growing up, he was always around the local street gang led my Johnny Torrio. After beating one of his sixth grade teachers, he quit school, and quickly learned the way of the streets, joining the Torrio gang, call the James Street Gang. James Street also included Lucky Luciano, one of Capone’s best friends, who would later also become a notorious gangster (Internet 1, 1).

As he grew older, Capone was hired by the gang leader, Torrio, to be a bouncer at a bar in Brooklyn, taking his first step up the “gang ladder”. One night, Capone’s cheek was slashed during a fight at the bar over a girl. It was from then on he was known as Scarface. Later in his life, when asked by reporters where he got this scare, he often lied of serving in the “Lost Battalion” in WWI, even though he never served in the military (Internet 1, 1).

Soon Enough, Capone was in trouble in again. He had killed a man in an argument and was on the run. After calling his old friend Torrio, he was invited to come to Chicago

Barfoot 2

and make a fresh start. At the time, Torrio was working for his uncle, the current leader of the Chicago underground, Big Jim Colosimo. With the prohibition came possibilities for large alcohol based profits. Torrio knew that Big Jim could make extremely large amounts of money, but Colosimo could not be persuaded to try his hand. So, in 1920, Torrio had Capone plan and carry out the murder of Big Jim, making Torrio the new boss of Chicago, with Capone as his right hand man, and manager of bootlegging alcohol (Internet 3, 1).

As they started their completer takeover of Chicago, few mobs would put up any resistance. One that did was the Irish North Side gang. Capone soon called in Frankie Yale, one of his old gang mates from Brooklyn, and the same man that had done the Colosimo assassination, to murder Dion O’Banion, the head of the North side gang. His death did little to persuade the gang to back down, and they continued to fight on and off for a few years.

Show More
Related

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Pros and Cons

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.

    Read More

  • The Assassination Of Bugs Moran In The 1920's

    216 Words  | 1 Pages

    With Johnny Torrio out of his way, Al Capone planned a raid on his rival gang leader, Bugs Moran (History.com para 1). Bugs Moran was the criminal that lead crime in North Chicago (History.com para 2). Throughout the 1920’s, Moran and Capone fought for control over bootlegging and prostitution (History.com para 2). Accordingly, Capone and Moran had been trying to kill each other and their gangs ever since Johnny Torrio was sent to prision (History.com para 2). With Moran's assassination attempt on Capone and a 50,000 bounty on Al Capone’s head, Capone starts to plan Bugs Moran's death (History.com para 4).

    Read More

  • The Sources of Al Capone's Power

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    Al Capone’s family came with a wave of other Italian immigrants that migrated to the United States in the 1800’s. Most immigrants in that time were living in poverty and in very urban areas. Capone’s family lived in the heart of Brooklyn, but his father was a successful barber which allowed them a slightly better lifestyle than most. Al Capone was the fourth of nine children and grew up with a very tight-knit Italian family who were trying to succeed in their new country”. Capone attended public school in the city and had a natural brightness by keeping a “B average” despite playing hooky on many occasions. The sixth grade showcased Capone’s short temper when he hit a female teacher who was lecturing him. This incident reveals the beginning of who Al Capone would come to be. After being suspended for his violence, he never officially furthered his education. He began his life of crime by joining the kid gangs that existed all over Brooklyn. These “gangs” were nothing more than children being hoodlums and participating in petty crimes, although they would be the ...

    Read More

  • Alphonse Gabriel Capone And The Bootlegger In American History

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alphonse Gabriel Capone was the most notorious bootlegger in American History. He was born on January 17, 1899 and died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947. Capone grew up in Brooklyn and became a member of the Five Points Gang. During a street fight he had received a scar on his face that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone quickly moves up the ranks in the mafia world, often noticed for his toughness, in 1919 he grabbed the attention of mobster John Torrio of Chicago. Capone was promoted to bodyguard of the mob boss James Colosimo. When Capone moved to Chicago, bootlegging was just starting to blow up. These bootleggers pounced on the opportunity to completely control the business of making, importing, and distributing alcohol and all alcohol products. Alcohol wasn't the only flourishing industry for the the mob, they also did trade in

    Read More

  • Justice in Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...for him to do). Instead Thoreau believes that as unjust and imperfect as democracy is at that particular time, he looks to better times, a time when legislators have more wisdom and integrity and hold humanity in a higher regard. He recognizes that fairness exists in the hearts and minds of individuals, some whom he knows personally and he holds to a hope that men like these can and will transform what is in their conscience into a “state at last which can afford to be just to all men and to treat the individual with respect…”

    Read More

  • Politics of Prohibition: Helpful Or Harmful To American Society?

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s. Was Capone fully to blame for the violence that plagued his life? Or was he adapting to the times in which he lived? Maybe he was a man who believed in self-defense in a cruel time where he was just as likely to be killed by an opposing bootlegger. In several interviews, he spoke of peace. He asked for peace from other men that challenged him. Some might even call him generous. Whatever Al Capone was, there was one type of person that he believed to be truely evil. In the words of Capone, "There's one thing worse than a crook, I think...and that's a crooked man in a big political job. A man who pretends he is enforcing the law and is really making dough by breaking it. Even a self-respecting hoodlum hasn't any use for that kind of fella..he buys them like he'd buy any other article necessary to his trade. But he hates them in his heart," (Blumenthal 102).

    Read More

  • Saint Valentines Day Massacre

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1920's were a time of Prohibition, Illegal Gambling, and Prostitution. The 18th amendment made the sale and distribution of alcohol illegal. Many people including Al Capone were involved in those illegal activities. Al Capone was notorious for this illegal activity. He got rich by manufacturing and distributing alcohol. He also owned many illegal bars. Many other gangs were doing the same illegal activity. There was competition over the alcohol. Every gang wanted it since that was how they made their money. In order to make money they had to eliminate the opposing gangs to decrease the competition. Al Capone never did any of the killings. He had his gang members do the killing. They would usually rent a room in front of the victim's house to stay hidden. Then they would wait for the victim to come outside. Then the gang members would shoot the person. Another way is they would do a drive-by and has someone in the car blast the victim with an Uzi or Thompson machine gun.

    Read More

  • Al Capone Biography

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    police men let him prepare for liquor raids and some of his other men made

    Read More

  • The life of Al Capone

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    capone got his first taste of gang life capone their . caught the attention of a young lady. Her brother shielded her from capone .

    Read More

  • The Rise And Fall Of Al Capone

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York to Gabriele and Teresina Capone. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two gangs; the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Alphonse did well at school until the 6th grade when he was expelled for retaliating against a teacher who hit him. He was fourteen at the time. He became part of the Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's bar, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn one night, local gangster Frank Gallucio was drinking with his sister at the Harvard Inn. Capone approached the girl to compliment her, and Gallucio took offense to him started a fight. Gallucio pulled a knife and cut Capone's face three times. That is how "Scarface" came to be.

    Read More

  • Biography of Al Capone

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 17,1899. He was the fourth of seven sons and two daughters. His parents, Gabriel and Theresa, were one of thousands of Italians who arrived in New York in 1894 for a better living. The early Capone was slashed with a knife across his left cheek by a young hoodlum in a restaurant , For harassing a woman, prompting the later nickname ‘’Scarface.’’Then Capone met a gangster named Johnny Torrio, who taught Capone how to build a corporate empire. Torrio moved from New York to Chicago in 1909 to help run a giant brothel business. In 1919 Capone joined Torrio’s James Street Boys gang in Chicago, Where he had become an Influential Lieutenant in the Colosimo mob. In 1925, Al Capone became boss when Torrio was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, surrendered control and retired to Brooklyn. As Prohibition began, New bootlegging operations opened up and drew in immense wealth. Capone started running gambling, prostitution, and gunning down rival gangs. Capone kidnapped opponents, election workers and threatened voters with violence. Later he eventually won office in Cairo but then his brother frank had been killed in a shootout with the Police of Chicago. Capone left for Miami with his wife and children and bought Palm Island estate,...

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Walden

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau stated that government should be expedient and conscientious. He started off his essay with his motto, “That government is best which governs least” and “That government is best which governs not at all.” He meant that we did not need a government that made rules and that the government should let the people do whatever they wanted to do. He believed that government should be expedient, not inexpedient. “Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.” He used a lot of examples to justify the inexpedient government. One of them was the Mexican-American war. “Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure…” It was inexpedient because war was just a tool for a few powerful individuals and did not have consent of the multitude. He believed that the government should help most of the people, not just a few rich people. In addition, the minority rule, in w...

    Read More

  • Prohibition Argumentative Essay

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...et of alcohol. The leader of the crime during the time was Al Capone. Capone was the ring leader of the mafia. He would do anything to get his money from his underground alcohol trafficking ring. Al Capone is a well known mafia leader. Al Capone Was the major trafficking leader during the prohibition. Al Capone was involved with gangs most of his life. This formed him into one of the greatest gang leader.

    Read More

  • Resistance to Civil Government: Henry David Thoreau

    1381 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.

    Read More

  • AL Capone, A Leader for Good and Bad

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    The life of Capone could not have been lead by a cowardly man. “He was a mean heavy set man”. (Hornung, Rick) Being involved in gangs all his life, “by age eleven he was a member of a gang, committing vandalism, and getting in fights”. ( Stockdale, Tom) The life of a gang member or mob man, made life always on the run, and made things extremely risky most of the time. Capone had to make a lot of decisions, and use his bravery to his advantage. The man was not afraid to confront other men even if the enemies held some type of gun or weapon. He was never intimidated, and often left the confronted people dead or forcing them to run away.

    Read More

More about Al Capone Biography

Open Document