Al Capone Research Paper

Public Enemy Number One
Al Capone is the single most known gangster of all time, born in Brooklyn in 1899 to an immigrant family, Capone found trouble at an early age. Despite having a mother who was a devout catholic, he joined a street gang in sixth grade, the same year he was thrown out of school for beating a female teacher. It was in the street gang where Capone met Johnny Torrio, the two become instant friends. At nineteen Capone becomes infatuated with a young lady named Mae who he has a son with and then two months later gets married to. With his new family Capone decides to follow his friend Torrio and move to Chicago. Little did the young Capone know how influential he would be there. Al Capone directly represents the culturally,

socially, and politically corrupt city of Chicago in the 1920’s.
In 1919 the American government passed a federal ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol. The act called prohibition caused widespread rage, but while some complained, others saw an opportunity for profit. A new demand for illegal bootlegged alcohol was created, and it brought a very violent culture with it. Capone and Torrio wanted to expand business for the economic gain it would bring. Torrio's uncle and boss, Jim Colosimo vetoed the idea of bootlegging because of the risks involved. Because of this, Capone arranged for Colosimo to be killed. On May 11, 1920 “Big” Jim Colosimo was gunned down in the lobby of his own building. This grants full control of Chicago’s underground operations into the hands of Capone and Torrio.
The 1920’s era could be described as one giant social experiment. It was all about individuals pushing the social norm. Woman wore less clothing and began going out more. It also became normal for blacks and whites to be integrated. These changes called for celebration and the people of Chicago took full advantage of it. Liquor flowed freely at speakeasies on every corner. Capone provided bootlegged liquor and beer for speakeasies around the city, he also ran bars of his own. If you refused to buy from him three times he would set off a bomb inside of the estate. Capone also owned gambling houses and could provide prostitutes. Though not everything he did was bad, When the recession started Capone opened the first soup kitchen in Chicago that fed over 3,000 people a day (N.P., Al Capone, Scarface). This enhanced his public image and made him look like a hero.
Without vast political corruption Capone would not have been able to grow his business so dramatically.

“Capone once estimated that he had fifty percent of Chicago’s law enforcement on his books” (N.P., Al Capone, Scarface). On top of this he paid off Judges, politicians, even an entire jury. At it’s peak Capone's mob generated over 120 Million dollars a year, all in cash. He also employed four hundred people throughout his various operations. During raids police would be paid to say that the space was all clear. Once when Capone was on Trial he paid each and every member of the jury, when the judge found out he switched the jury. Finally on June 5, 1931 Capone was arrested on 22 accounts of tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years of jail.
“Al Capone is America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era” (N.P., Al Capone). Capone set the tone for the violent culture in Chicago with the murder of Jim Colosimo and the St. Valentine's Day massacre. He enhanced the social aspect of the city by making alcohol easily available to the common man. Finally Capone fully twisted Chicago's politics because not even police officers could be

trusted.