During the Great Depression, the crime rate had increased dramatically. There were burglars, killers, and even mobs participating in massive criminal behavior at this time. This resulted in the most dangerous criminals in history. One of the most renowned criminal groups, during this time was the Barrow Gang. This gang included the infamous Bonnie and Clyde. Their gang went on a two-year spree. This seems to give them more of a Robin Hood image, than a murderous one. The police hated them, but the public loved them. Bonnie and Clyde became one of the most dangerous and well-known couples in history. They captured the imagination of the nation.
Clyde, the leader of the Barrow Gang, was born on October 1, 1910, into a life of poverty. Clyde was always fascinated with guns and music. It was even recorded that he carried a saxophone with him to every crime. Clyde was also known to be a very skillful driver. This ended up being an advantage in all the close calls they had with the police. His first crime was stealing turkeys from a neighbor. Once he became a teenager, he formed the Barrow Gang with his friends. This gang included Robert Fults, Raymond Hamilton, and later W.D. Jones, Joe Palmer, and Henry Methvin. The gang did small robberies for money around Dallas for living and traveling expenses. He later met Bonnie at a friend’s house in January, 1930. Bonnie was born into a wealthy family on March 24, 1909(Quinn). Bonnie dropped out of school at the age of sixteen and married a man named Roy Thornton. Thornton was later arrested for robbery and sent to jail. She later became a waitress, but was broke due to the Great Depression. When she met Clyde, they fell in love and ran off to be criminals together. They lived off of stolen ca...
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...ng this time, people today are as well by reading their stories. Bonnie and Clyde’s story has been relived through numerous books, papers, and movies. Those who are fascinated by the lives of Bonnie and Clyde should most definitely take their stories as a precautionary tale of how horrific things can end when you choose a criminal life.
Work Cited
Gilmore, John. On the Run with Bonnie & Clyde. 2013. Print.
Phillips, John. My Life with Bonnie and Clyde. 2005. Print.
Quinn, Jeff. “The Spectacularly Incompetent Bonnie and Clyde”. D Magazine. April. 2009:1-6. Print.
Rosa, Paul. “The story of Bonnie and Clyde”. History 1900s. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. .
Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Bonnie and Clyde”. History Buff. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. .
helped support the struggling couple. They divorced in 1942. She lived in Carmel Valley, CA after and died February 8, 1983.
At the end of the war the remnants of Quantrill's gang turned to undisguised outlawry, becoming notorious as the gangs led by the Younger brothers and by Jesse and Frank James. They occasionally sought refuge at the Shirley farm, and Belle became close to Jesse James and his gang, the rest of the Youngers, and other outlaws, many of whom, like her brother, had served with Quantrill's raiders duri...
Frank and Jesse had talked about forming a gang with Cole Younger, but Jesse was not with them when they committed their first robbery in February of 1866. Jesse joined in October. It wasn’t until March 1867 that they pulled their first job together. They tried to rob a bank at Savannah. All three aimed at the bank president, but all were bad shots and only one bullet barely touched him. This job was not successful. Two months later a man and his fifteen-year-old son were found dead and the blame was placed on Jesse. He was very attached to his mother and usually hid out at her house after pulling a job.
The great depression was a very sad and hard time. This was a time where people had little money, no available jobs and just had a hard time with everything. Many people had nd any way to make money whether it was cutting kid’s hair in neighborhood, picking fruit, selling iron cords house to house or even painting a house for 5 dollars. Even though this was a very hard time some people still had hope that things would get better. This was a really bad time until Franklin Roosevelt who was for the government supporting the Americans and not the other way around became president.
Kody Dejohn Scott, a future infamous gang leader was born in south central Los Angeles, California in 1963. He was one of six children as his step father left his family in 1970. Kody suspected that his real father was actually NFL quarterback Dick Bass and felt that his step father never treated him like his real son because of that (Kody, 2008). Throughout Kody’s younger years his step father physically abused him and his family. With no father figure in his life and a broken home, Kody turned to the streets in search of love and security.
Although the leader of the Clanton Gang was dead, the family carried on. Billy and Ike Clanton were two of the participants in the most famous gunfight of all. The ...
The first gang that caught my attention was the 18th Street Gang which was formed in the late 1960’s. The name of the gang was originated from a street in the Rampart section of East Los Angeles. They were also known as “Children’s army” because they recruited elementary and middle school kids as a part of their gang. They show no clemency for their own members, you might be a really good friend of the leader but if you say the word “I’m out” they will menace you and your family. Also if you disrespect a leader or the big boss or another member of the gang you have a very sure beating of 18 seconds or you can even get killed depending on the circumstances. Some people say gang activities in the 1960’s were less dangerous, but this gang is a serious exception. Their criminal activities included auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shootings, they sold drugs, arm trafficking, extortion, rape and murder for hire. The 18th Street Gang extended across North America having more than 30,000 members. First it began with an ethnicity of Hispanic members, but throughout the years they included African Americans, Asians, Caucasians, and Native Americans.
Bang! Pow! Bullets are raining down on the infamous Bonnie and Clyde. It is a standoff with the local police department. Bonnie and Clyde are in trouble again; robbing a liquor store of their cigarettes and their liquor. It seems as if Bonnie and Clyde were the greatest pair of criminals in history.
They were gangsters that caused problems for the community. These gangsters would go up to kids and try and jump them into their gang. For them, the more members they had, the more “territory they had.” One problem that major cities around the world have is gangs. Most of these gangs are made up of juvenile delinquents looking for trouble.
2.) Brown, A. R. 1992. Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter. 400 p.
The 1930s brought the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn of the Western industrial world (http://www.history.com). This economic downturn was known as ‘The Great Depression’ (http://www.history.com). The Great Depression in the United States soon began after the stock market crash of October 1929 (http://www.history.com). Consumer spending and investment dropped which caused a decline in industrial output and led to rising levels of unemployment (http://www.history.com). During this time period money was scarce. People did what they had to do in order to make their lives happy (http://wwwappskc.lonestar.edu). The Great Depression was hard on the economy which in turn affected how people lived their lives and spent their money.
The Great Depression was a major historical event that affected thousands of Americans during the 1930s. It was a time in which economic decline left people without jobs while struggling to keep a family and home together. It certainly was a devastating time for everyone. For African Americans, it was even more of a struggle as segregation and the oppression of blacks were just as strong as when the Jim Crow laws were initially established. “African Americans were only 64 years beyond enslavement, with de jure segregation relegating them to second-class citizenship and generally only the meanest, dirtiest employment.” (Bilal) During the Great Depression, music and jobs were taken by whites and African Americans struggled greatly. Holiday faced racial challenges in which her social status, as a young black woman, left her with only a few options for work. Occupations such as a washwoman or a prostitute were such jobs expected out of a young woman of her time.
The Great Depression was a very difficult time in American history. The Great Depression was the longest and most severe depression that was experienced in the Western World. The movie Riding the Rails is a good example of times during this depression. The movie presents a story of ten men and women in their youth, who gave their accounts about leaving their homes in search of a better life. I think Riding the Rails gives a very clear and accurate view of how life was for young teenagers during these historical times.
Peterson, Nancy M. "Wounded at Wounded Knee." Wild West 17.2 (2004): 22-30. History Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
The films protagonists Kit Caruthers (Martin Sheen) and Holly (Sissy Spacek) are loosely based on the real life adolescent criminals Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. Starkweather and Fugate become infamous after their murder spree through Nebraska and Wyoming in the 1950’s, however the story of two young fugitives in love is not one that is unfamiliar with audiences; the most notable is Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967). The character of Kit also bears a resemblance to Jim Stark, James Dean’s character i...