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Al capone change in society
Prohibition increases organized crime
Al capone change in society
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Ricky Zorce
Mrs. Day
5th Period - Honors Lit
29 April 2014
Organized Crime of the 1930s
America saw a dramatic increase of crime during the 1930s. With various causes and gangsters, the United States was no longer a safe haven in the world. Organizations such as the FBI were formed during this time period, as well as the establishment of a world famous prison. Crime in the 1930s was much like it is today, yet had a bigger impact on that era.
To start off, there were two main causes of crime during this time period. The Prohibition era was one of the main causes of organized crimes. Prohibition was the 18th Amendment that banned any alcoholic beverages from being sold or used in the United States. This amendment began a whole crime system known as bootlegging. People saw this as a chance to make money during a time when the economy was awful which leads us to the second reason. The second reason was the Great Depression. When the stock market fell in 1929, many people were laid off work, and little to no jobs were available. In order to supply for their families, people started robbing banks and other things to make money. This increased crimes drastically because of all the people that needed money. To sum it all up, two large things contributed to the crime in the 1930s.
A big part of this time period were the gangsters themselves. The most infamous of them all was Al Capone. Capone was the head of a group called the Chicago Outfit. Capone did not personally commit crimes, but he looked over them, and plotted them. It was said that Capone was worth 100 million dollars in 1930. Capones most famous crime was the Valentine’s Day Massacre where Capone hired people to kill rival gang members. Al Capone became so notorious that a mo...
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...rded. Alcatraz is now used as a tourist hotspot.
In all, the 1930s was a great time for criminals, but a hassle for the law enforcers. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it shows the impact of the economic fall. Jem and Scout live in a time period where the majority of crimes happened, however, since they lived in Alabama, they were not as affected. Most crimes happened in the midwest. A decade of crimes led to a 9.8% murder rate, and left many people scarred and worried about their protection. It also reversed the 18th amendment which prohibited alcohol after the government realized many people without a criminal record were being charged with the use of alcohol, and if the government took away the gangsters abilities to make a bootleg system, it would also lower the crimes. After all that America went through during the 1930s, the gangsters impacts are not to be forgotten.
The decline of alcohol consumption was partly an illusion due to the fact that it sharply increased by the penultimate years of Prohibition, suggested that the demand of alcohol was so strong, which led to the rise of organised crime, such as bootlegging, speakeasies and criminal gangs. Ultimately, Prohibition was not a healthy move because many people decided to turn to more dangerous substitutes such as heroin, hashish and cannabis. This had serious health consequences, such as addiction and shortened life expectancy. Due to the immense geographical size of America, prohibition was difficult to enforce, which also led to corruption. The limited number of underpaid police officers were usually bribed by illegal establishments to remain silent. Willoughby’s point is agreeable that the failure of prohibition was largely due to the fact that it was over-ambitious, resulting in many problems in America, that led to its repeal in
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
This site has good statistical information about Capone and other Chicago gangs during the 1920s.
Some would have you believe that crime decreased during prohibition. Well, it did. Crime decreased, as a whole, by 37.7% during prohibition. However violent crime and other serious crimes were up. Theft of property was up 13.2%, homicide was up m16.1%, and robbery was up 83.3%. Minor crimes had decreased though- by 50%. Crimes such as malicious mischief, public swearing, vagrancy, etc. (Dr. Fairburn pg 75-80)
It is said that for every market that is destroyed, a new underground market is created. This was exactly the case with prohibition. Though domestic violence did decrease, much crime increased. Bootlegers (people who made/sold their own whiskey) popped up everywhere. Speakeasies, which were underground bars, were frequented by virtually everyone. Seceret drinking was considered a glamorous thing-even in Washington parties. Bootlegging gangs began to increase, thus an increase in street crime occured. One of the most famous of these gangsters was Al Capone. Capone's bootlegging ring earned him approximately 60,000,000 dollars a year. One example of gang related crime was the St. Valentines Day Massacre, in which Capones's gang gunned down and killed seven members of "Bugs" Morgans' gang.
Prohibition was the creation of bootlegging and gang wars that would make up the roots of the 1920’s. One of the most known gangsters in American History, Al Capone, was the most powerful gang or mob leader in his era. Capone was the roots of organized crime in Chicago area from the mid 20’s to the early 30’s. Al grew up in the 20’s in Chicago. In his younger days, he joined the James Street Gang whose leader was Johnny Torrio. In the year 1920, Johnny asked Al Capone to join his uncle in Chicago who had control of the city’s largest prostitute and gambling circuit. Capone ended up being a big fan of that idea. In the later months of 1920 the Prohibition act was passed into effect and Al Capone decided his next money maker was bootlegging illegal
In 1920, the gangster era began. This brought a new type of crime into play that had not been seen before. Criminals were kidnapping and robbing banks, both of which were not federal crimes at that time. In 1932 the passage of a federal kidnapping statute made it a criminal act. In 1934, many other federal criminal statutes were passed, and Congress gave Special Agents the authority to make arrests and to carry firearms.
Big time Mobsters began setting up some big ideas for big business. Mob bosses, gangs, small time thugs, smugglers and just about anyone who did not mind sneaking around the law had their hands dipped into the moonshine business. The moonshine business was a basic manufacture, sell and repeat business Prohibition had people thinking about making a pretty good profit from doing it. While this was happening big time mobsters began digging into deeper ways of making money. Labor racketeering, selling of drugs and even prostitution really come in to play during this time (Hales).
Prohibition was passed to eradicate the demand for liquor but had the inadvertent effect of raising the crime rates in America. Robert Scott stated, “Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America” (Scott 2). As the demand for alcohol increased, people began to find new methods to mask the production and consumption of liquor. It became easier to break the rules. Organized crime blossomed and many law-abiding citizens turned into criminals.
After the hungry 40’s, in the 19th century when the benefits of the industrial revolution began to appear, crime rates went down because food prices were more stable and sometimes decreasing and there was a higher amount of exports of industrial goods leading to more money. (Clive Emsley, Crime Reasoning Notecard, 41.) The police played a very small role in the decrease in crime but the years of carefully thought out policing systems ..
Al Capone was one of the most known of all of the gangsters. He was one of the biggest gangsters in the underworld of chicago. Al capone was a sharp dresser a classy gentleman. Capone was the best at what he did. capone originally liyed in naples which is in italy .
rise in crime for both eras show a strong relationship. There is also a tendency for an
Al Capone was a child from an Italian immigrant family, And was one of the most Notorious and infamous Mafia leader in the world during the Prohibition Era in Chicago. Also he was known as "Scarface," Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz Prison in Philadelphia in 1931 from a tax evasion conviction. Al Capone had a personal fortune estimated at $100 million and was responsible for countless murders, His most famous one was the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre.
People turned more and more towards criminal activity, organized criminals such as the American mobsters and European crime syndicates thrived, most common people looked upon these organizations as heros. Criminals like Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger were headliners of the era. Jobs were scarce and people needed to provide for their families, gangsterism was dangerous but provided an easy way to make money. When the American government passed the eighteenth Amendments outlawing alcohol, people who enjoyed a drink became criminal for doing so. It was organized criminals who supplied the booze. In January of 1920 the American government banned the sale and supply of alcohol, the government thought that this would curb crime and violence, prohibition did not achieve its goals, leading more toward higher crime rates and excessive violence. Alcohol was seen as the devil's advocate and banning the substance would help improve the quality of American lives. It caused an explosive growth in crime with more than double the amount of illegal bars and saloons operating than before prohibition. The government set up the “Federal Prohibition Bureau” to police prohibition, this did not deter people and organized crime continued to be the main supplier of booze. With a large coastline it was almost impossible to police with only five percent of alcohol ever being confiscated. Bribing government officials was common, and people were increasingly crafty in the way they
The 1920s were known as carefree and relaxed. The decade after the war was one of improvement for many Americans. Industries were still standing in America; they were actually richer and more powerful than before World War I. So what was so different in the 1930’s? The Great Depression replaced those carefree years into ones of turmoil and despair.