Al Capone
Prohibition led to the bootlegging of liquor and the gang wars of the 1920’s. The most notorious gangster of all time, known as Al Capone, was the most powerful mob leader of his era. He dominated organized crime in the Chicago area from 1925 until 1931. Capone grew up during the roaring 20s in Chicago. He joined the James Street gang, lead by Johnny Torrio. In 1920, Torrio asked Capone to move to Chicago and work with his uncle who controlled the city’s largest prostitution and gambling ring at the time. Capone had liked that idea. Later that year the Prohibition act came into affect and Capone became interested in selling illegal whiskey and other alcoholic beverages. Al Capone was America's best known gangster and greatest symbol of destruction of law and order in the United States during the Prohibition era because of his leading role in the illegal activities which gave Chicago its reputation as a lawless city.
Capone’s network came through Torrio’s business. Capone and Torrio took over his uncles business after his uncle died (Haller, 358). Torrio’s uncle did not agree with Capone’s idea in the first place. His uncle was shot by his rival, which gave the business to Torrio. They both created the selling of illegal alcohol in the city of Chicago (Haller 359). This impacted the U.S. because it gave many men and women beverages for their needs. Capone developed contacts to obtain imported liquor from Detroit, New York, and Miami (Haller 360). These purchases gave Capone power and wealth because he sold alcohol all over Chicago. After Torrio was shot and almost killed by a rival gang, he retired from the underworld, which left Capone to run the organization alone (World Biography). Now Capone was on the top of his organization and at the age of 26, he was managing more than 1,000 employees, which included a payroll of more than $300,000 a week (World Biography). Capone demanded loyalty from all of his employees. During this time Capone became so rich he gave out free food for Chicago’s unemployed which made him look like a good influence.
Unemployed people did not care that the money he gave them was made illegally, to them money was money. Capone also supplied booze to the poor. “Even though bootlegging was illegal at this point in time, if you got people alcohol, you were respected by the community”(Kobler). People were in the depres...
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...January 21, 1947, he had an apoplectic stoke that was probably unrelated to his syphilis” (Al Capone). He regained consciousness and began to improve until pneumonia hit Capone on January 24. He died the next day from cardiac arrest. Capone was first buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago's far South Side next to the graves of his father, and brother. In March of 1950 all three were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery on the far West Side. That is why Al Capone was known as America’s best known gangster in the prohibition era.
Work Cited
Bergreen, Laurence. The Man and the Era. Simon and Schuster Trade, New York. July
1996.
Haller, Mark. American National Biography, Oxford University Press. New York
1999
Hornung, Rick. Al Capone. Random House Value Publish. Staff Incorporated
1998
Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. New
York, New York. 1992
Encyclopedia of World Biography. Al Capone. 2nd ed. Volume 17. Gale Research.
Thomson Corporation Company. 1998
American Decades CD – ROM. Al Capone. Gale Research. Gale Group, Thomson
Corporation Company. 1998
Al Capone. http://www.chicagohs.org/ (25, Mar. 2001)
Sandbrook is incorrect to remark that from the moment the Volstead Act came into effect, America’s National gangsters saw it as a business opportunity. This is because the early years of Prohibition were years where enforcement was particularly strict, which made the distribution of alcohol very risky. Yet regardless, by far criminals who had the most to gain were gangsters such as Al Capone, who made $100 million a year from speakeasies and casinos alone. Violence played a large role in organised crimes during the years of Prohibition, with an increase in burglary, theft and battery assaults by a total of 22%. There were also wars between gangsters over each other’s territory, and the most famous act of violence during the years of Prohibition came from Capone’s army of 700 gangsters, who committed over 300 murders in Chicago. Willoughby points out that although organised crime existed in the years before and after Prohibition, it was “albeit on a smaller scale.” This is convincing as the affluence that the twenties created, along with demands for alcohol provided alternative opportunities for organised crime. Arguably, Clements acknowledges that even after the repeal of Prohibition, the wealth that corrupted illegal organisations accumulated made them turn to other areas where they could make a vast amount of profit, such as prostitution, gambling and drugs. Certainly,
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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 ...
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
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
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
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses colors to symbolize a character’s inner thoughts and feelings or an objects deeper meaning. He uses colors to symbolize the many different ideas in the book. The colors are used very often as symbols, and the hues create atmosphere in different scenes of the book. Color symbolism is used to convey a deeper message to the readers and help them understand the characters. The novel shows the major themes through the use and explanation of many different colors.
Once in Chicago, Capone went to work for Yale's old mentor, John Torrio, who also became godfather to his son. Torrio saw Capone's potential, his combination of physical strength and intelligence, and took him under his wing. In January 1920, the 18th Amendment of the Prohibition Act came into force, which made the brewing, distilling and distribution of alcohol completely illegal. The era of Prohibition was underway, and Chicago's criminal underworld, including Johnny Torrio who was prepared to make bootlegging alcohol a very profitable business. Around the end of 1920 Capone's father tragically died, but Capone was doing well in Chicago venture and did not go astray. At just 22 years of age Capone became Torrio's partner in his Chicago businesses, and was Torrio's number-two man helping to mange the bootlegging, saloons, gambling houses, and even the brothels. Capone now had greater responsibilities and was given the opportunity to expand the operation to the Chicago suburb of Cicero.
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,...
...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.
Capone eventually conceded and one day made the comment to Johnston, "It looks like Alcatraz has got me licked." Capone spent 4 ½ years on Alcatraz and held a variety of jobs. Capone's time on Alcatraz was not easy time. Capone got into a fight with another inmate in the recreation yard and was placed in isolation for eight days. While working in the prison basement, an inmate who was standing in line waiting for a haircut, exchanged words with Capone and stabbed him with a pair of shears. Capone was admitted into the prison hospital and released a few days later with a minor wound. Capone eventually became symptomatic from syphilis, a disease he had evidently been carrying for years. In 1938, he was transferred to Terminal Island Prison in Southern California to serve out the remainder of his sentence, and was released in November of 1939. Capone died on January 25, 1947, in his Palm Beach Mansion from complications of syphilis.
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).
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