Essay On Al Capone

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Alphonse Gabriel Capone was Chicago’s most notorious gangster from the 1920’s. Al Capone was the leader of the Chicago Mafia, also known as the “Capones”, which was involved in many illegal activities. Capone was, and still is, one of the greatest symbols of the collapse of law and order seen during the prohibition era. His upbringing is the most vital contribution to the understanding of how he became the gangland boss. Al Capone is one of the most influential people to come out of the 1920’s because, not only did he impact Chicago’s lifestyle, but altered America as a whole.
Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn New York. He was one of seven children born to parents, Gabriele and Teresina Capone, recent immigrants from Italy trying to find a brighter future in America. They lived in the typical immigrant housing tenements in the Mulberry Bend district in New York (Al, 2014). Capone craved being the center of attention and conflicts from a young age. When Capone was barely out of his teen years, he was cornered by a neighborhood bully at the local barber shop. His attacker backed him into a corner and slashed him twice across the face with a razor. In elementary school, Capone did well until around sixth grade when he started playing hooky and going to the Brooklyn docks more and more frequently. It escalated one day when his teacher was reprimanding him and Al Capone hit her back. That was the end of his education. The family was already in a nicer home in Park Slope, Brooklyn at the time, which was where he met his future wife Mary (Mae) Coughlin and his mobster mentor Johnny Torrio. Torrio was running a gambling operation down the street from the Capone’s new home which was his first exposure to the gangster wor...

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...The amendment annulled the previous 18th amendment, once again making the selling and consumption of alcohol legal (Organization).
Al Capone died on January 25, 1947 in Palm Island palace. Capone's health slowly deteriorated while in prison and he became confused and disorientated. His sentence was finally reduced to six and a half years for good behavior and died of cardiac arrest at age 48 (Alphonse). Capone was at times both loved and hated by the media and the public. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, some in the public felt that Capone’s involvement in selling liquor had been vindicated. But Capone was a ruthless gangster responsible for murdering or ordering the assassinations of many people, and his vile acts of violence remain at the center of his legacy. Capone’s image as a cold-blooded killer and mobster has lived on long beyond his death (Al).

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