The Life and Times of Al Capone
Alphonse Capone was born in New York City by two parents Gabriel
and Teresa Capone. Capone's parents immigrated to the United States in
1893 from Naples, Italy. Capone came from a large family and was the
fourth oldest of nine children. (Kobler 10). As a child, Capone was very
wise when it came to living on the streets of New York. He had a clever
mind when it came to street smarts. As far as school goes, Capone was a
near-illiterate. He came from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, so education
was not a top priority.
At about the age of eleven Capone became a member of a juvenile
gang in his neighborhood. While this was taking place, around the year
1900, about eleven percent of all the foreign born population in the United
States were Italian. Capone was forced to either deal with a miserable low
wage job with a hopeless future or make an improvement for himself by
committing first minor, then serious crimes. Al Capone's philosophy was
that laws only applied to people who had enough money to live by them.
While in the “Bim Booms” gang, Capone was taught how to defend himself
with a knife, and with a gun. By the time Capone reached the sixth grade he
had already become a street brawler. Capone never responded well to
authority and for this very reason his schooling would soon come to an end.
While attending school, Capone was responsible for beating a female teacher
and knocking her to the ground. The principal of the school rushed in and
punished young Capone and for this very reason he would never return to
school again. (Sifakis 603)
After dropping out of school, Capone took up jobs such as working as
a pin-setter at a bowling alley, and working behind the counter at a candy
store. Capone was terrific at pool, winning every eightball tournament held in
Brooklyn. He also became an expert knife fighter. Although the “Bim
Booms” gang was the first gang Capone ever entered, he was quickly picked
up by the “Five Pointers”. The “Five Pointers” was the most powerful gang in
New York city. The gang was headed by Johnny Torrio, and was made up of
over 1,500 thugs who specialized in burglary, extortion, robbery, assault, and
murder. While working ...
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...lecting Capone's income could be seized. Capone had never
paid any type of income tax and for this very reason he was brought up on
charges of tax invasion in front of the federal court. Capone offered the
federal government $400,000 to drop the case against him, but they rejected
the offer. Capone was convicted and given the maximum sentence which
was a $50,000 fine, court costs of $30,000, and eleven years in jail. (Nash
116 ) Capone started his sentence in an Atlanta prison. In 1934 he was
transferred to Alcatraz, also known as “The Rock”. Five years later he was
released from Alcatraz as a helpless paretic, due to the untreated syphilis he
got from prostitutes. Later that year, Al Capone was judged insane and was
released to the care of his family. (Sifakis 613 )
In January 1947 Capone had a massive brain hemorrhage and died.
His body was removed from his estate in Florida and transferred back to the
seen of his underworld triumph, Chicago. The family held a private
ceremony at the cemetery, but were affraid of grave robbers taking the corpse
so they reburied Capone in a secret place in Mt. Carmel Cemetery. (Kobler
122)
John Gotti John Gotti: The American Mobster This is a story about a New York mobster, who was the Godfather of the Gambino Family. Today he is serving a life sentence in Marion Federal Penitentiary on 43 counts of racketeering, multiple murders, loan sharking, gambling, and even jury tampering. John Gotti was born October 27, 1940 in the Bronx. John Gotti had 12 other brothers and sisters.
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 grader 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.
John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” After getting a behind the scenes look at J. Edgar Hoover’s life and accomplishments I consider him to be a very influential leader. I was always familiar with the name J. Edgar Hoover, but I never fully understood his impact on the United States. Edgar, as his mother would call him, wasn’t a perfect man by any standards. He was born with a variety of traits that contribute to his leadership. Some of these traits attributed to his downfall. Throughout the movie there were many instances that tested his leadership in both negative and in positive ways.
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
The movie Gangs of New York takes place in Lower Manhattan’s Five Points’ neighborhood. It begins in 1846. The main protagonist Amsterdam Fallon, Priest Fallon’s son, watches his father who is the leader of the Dead Rabbit gang prepare and die in battle. As his father is on his last breadths of life giving his son counsel, Billy “the Butcher” Cutting snaps the Priest Fallon’s head. Amsterdam runs away from Cuttings henchmen to hide his father’s knife before he is captured by the Natives gang. He is taken to Hellgate orphanage. In 1862 Amsterdam returns to Five Point’s neighborhood and finds his old friend Johnny Sirocco. Johnny works now for Billy “the Butcher” and introduces Amsterdam to Cutting. Amsterdam makes his way into Cutting’s inner circle of Natives. Amsterdam also meets Jenny Everdeane while hanging out with Johnny. She bumps into Johnny to pickpocket his watch. Amsterdam notices and lets Johnny know. Johnny claims he always lets her take things. As both Cutting and Jenny take a liking to Amsterdam Johnny becomes jealous. He notices young Vallon quickly making his way into Cutting’s gang’s high ranks and into Jenny’s heart. Out of jealousy, Johnny reveals Amsterdam’s true identity to Cutting. Cutting decides to make Vallon angry. He succeeds by playing a dangerous game that involves knives with Jenny at the annual celebration of Priests Vallon’s death. Amsterdam then attempts to assassinate Cutting but fails and is taught a lesson by Cutting. Amsterdam lives at the help of Jenny. To avenge his father he starts the outlawed Dead Rabbit gang up again. He proposes a challenge to Cutting after his friend “Monk” McGinn is killed by Cutting. The fight takes place at Five Points’ neighborhood on the day the ...
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).
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
He came up from almost nothing in a poor immigrant home of Italian decent. His mother and father were working class citizens. Capone began using the Italian heritage at a young age with a slight twist of dastardly aggressiveness. Being kicked out of school at an early age from assault of a teacher then joining a gang was the future for Capone. Torrio left all his work in the hands of Capone, and Al did not disappoint. He was successful in making money. Prohibition alcohol, gambling, prostitution, speakeasy’s, and hits were just a few tactics of his reign in Chicago during the roaring twenties. With his attitude and ability to practically decide who will win elections made him so fearful, and if you ever crossed him you were due to payment for ticking him off. Valentine’s Day and the small-thug are just two examples of the raw decisions of Capone to commit murder. There is no possible answer to the amount of killings Capone is responsible for. Al Capone was finally caught after all the chaos and killing in 1931 where he would serve in Alcatraz and in Baltimore until returning to Miami where he would dance with the devil one last time. The notorious Al Capone never died in Chicago as the Chiraq still ran wild. Al Capone is one of Americas most famous gangsters from the prohibition era and will rest knowing that he is a symbol for modern destruction of law and order
Al Capone, America’s most prominent Mafia figure in the 1920’s, also known as “Scarface” for a scar running down his left cheek. Capone didn’t hide in the shadows like most figures in such a shady occupation. He didn’t shy away from the camera, more like he welcomed it, and aimed to be seen by the public as a respectable businessman and a pillar of the community. Surprisingly, Capone wasn’t from a distinctly poor community, his father earned a living as a barber. Capone was introduced to the gang life by a friend and from there it all went downhill and into the life of a gangster.
The center of their influence in the 1960's appeared to be in the Englewood community of Chicago, where "to raise money to fund their illegal enterprises Disciple leaders staged fundraising parties at the Maryland Theatre, located at 63rd and Maryland" (See Illinois Police and Sheriffs News, "Paying the Price of Our Neglect: Street Gangs are the New Organized Crime", Spring, 1994).
His father was a respectable barber . when capone was a child he formed a gang to steal from other gangs . And he gave the stolen stuff back to the wrightful owners . when he did that he got paraded for doing it it .
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.
with his ways of talking were also that of a business man. Everything Capone did
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,...
Capone had mastered the art of politics, and as a wealthy, powerful gangster figure, he attempted to balance his activities. Despite his illegitimate occupation, he had become a highly visible public figure. He made daily trips to City Hall, opened soup kitchens to feed the poor, and even lobbied for milk bottle dating to ensure the safety of the city's children. City officials often were embarrassed by the politic strength of Capone, and began leveraging his illegal activities through police raids, along with setting intentional fires to his places of business.