Roman Colleton
Mrs. Manatos
English II
21 May 2023
How the Chicago Mafias Impacted the 1900s Culture and Society of America
"Mafia is a process, not a thing. Mafia is a form of clan - cooperation to which it's individual members pledge lifelong loyalty....Friendship, connections, family ties, trust, loyalty, obedience - this was the glue that held us together." ~ Joseph Bonanno, aka (Joe Bananas) , is a notorious mobster known for his hard-headed personality. The mafia is a prestigious organized crime group, that has close ties with political figures and “elites”. Chicago's mafias rose to power through bootlegging, corruption, and political arrangements. The Italian mafia negatively impacted American culture within Chicago during the 1920s
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About 40% of all Chicago policemen's death is from the 1900s era, as stated by the Chicago Police Department. Notably, men of the mafia had access to multiple assets to evade the law. According to Humbert in an article about the mafia, he states “The professional criminal knew, or had ready access to lawyers who knew, the nuances of the law and how to avoid retribution for antisocial actions. He had money and connections with politicians, as well as with corrupt policemen, who would delay or circumvent efforts to bring him to justice. He also could arrange intimidation of witnesses and victims so that they kept silent” (Humbert). Criminals could get away with crimes, by bribing officials, intimidating victims and witnesses, and having corrupt policemen on their side. The Chicago laws were no match for the mafia at that time, as a result, they failed in their mission to help and serve society. In short, the Chicago police force and lawmakers failed to tame the Mafia. This resulted in young Italian Americans not only in Chicago but, around the world, facing discrimination for being Italian. Again, like their Italian immigrant family before themselves, a new wave of racism/discrimination is started for more generations of Italian Americans caused by the …show more content…
Many crimes in the 90s were committed to send fear through people. The people of that time were scared of Italian Americans because of this the Italians of Chicago were stereotyped as more aggressive and hostile. Furthermore, McDonough states, “The prime example was the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929. The killers were dressed as police officers, which led some to believe at first that policemen were actually responsible for the murders Police Commissioner William F. Russell immediately stated that the suspicion was a great challenge to the Police Department.” (McDonough) Through murders and deceiving the Chicago public both the people and authorities alike were fooled, by the Mafia. By highlighting the events that took place on February 14, 1929, the mafia's presence is undeniable. The mafia used criminal behavior to send a widespread message of their complete dominance of the Chicago
Using territories to their advantage was not all that bootleggers did. They also developed sophisticated plans and made connections and used them to their advantage. They created networks throughout the cities, with citizens, law enforcement, and government officials alike. They did all they could to protect themselves and their business, History.com writes “Italian-American gangs (along with other ethnic gangs) entered the booming bootleg liquor business and transformed themselves into sophisticated criminal enterprises, skilled at smuggling, money laundering and bribing police and other public officials". They did all they could to ensure their business' success.
During this time, Al Capone gained more power and provided beer and liquor to the public of Chicago. He also began to utilize political influence and had a puppet candidate elected as the mayor of Cicero. Dion O’Banion and his Irish-American gang ruled the north and The Outfit ruled the south. O’Banion had been hijacking Torrio’s and Capone’s liquor and in 1924 the tension erupted following a bust of a brewery owed by the three. The incident led to O’Banion being shot in his flower shop. The violence between the North Side gang and The Outfit led to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Additionally, other factors such as: acts of organised crime – gambling and prostitution, weakened Chicagoan governmental system and period of Prohibition all played tribute to the law dismantling of Chicagoan state. Chicago , a city seen for its perfection yet due to the ‘large-scale’ (Source A) of organised criminal activity which made way to path of gangster tactics and the victimisation by Alphonse Capone King Of The Gangsters (Source N) , the perfect Chicagoan city no longer stood instead a lawless state emerged. Al Capone had a strong hold upon the Chicago state (Source N) which made his actions have a greater influence. Capone had created a lawless path throughout Chicago in multiple ways through his involvement in organised crimes i.e. gambling ‘ gambling on horse races’ (Source L) ; ‘income tax fraud’ (Source I) ;
Al Capone Al Capone greatly influenced the illegal bootlegging business in chicago and set a standard in te mafia industry. Al Capone rose to power in the early 1920s in many ways, he had lots of help in this climb to the top. The early days of Al Capone his rebelious actions would just be talking back to his teachers and doing his own thing.
“Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut” (Quotes from Goodfellas, n.d.). This quote from the 1990 critically acclaimed film Goodfellas encompasses some of the main foundations the American Mafia is built upon. And although this film was a major motion picture created in Hollywood, it was based on a true story and kept most of the key aspects of the Mafia’s culture. The role that family played in each individual sect across the country was unified in the sense that it was, by far, the most important to every member of the American Mafia. In the Mafia’s prime (approximately 1920-1985), it shared enough values with the dominant American culture, while maintaining a good amount of differences, to be considered a U.S. co-culture.
Al Capone came to Chicago in 1919 at 20 years old and became one of the city’s most successful gangsters in 3 years while attacking and defying prohibition (Karamanski). Al Capone, being one of the top gangsters, committed many crimes which involved disregarding the prohibition and many other gang related crimes. But Capone’s success and legacy left a hold on Chicago. Before Capone, Chicago was always worried about its reputation but after, Capone and other criminals turned Chicago against its reputation and pushed Hollywood to enforce a gangster image on the city (Karamanski). Chicago didn’t wanted to be seen as a crime and gangster ridden city, but the acts of many criminals, including Al Capone, established Hollywood’s gangster image of Chicago, which the city would never be able to get rid of.
In the 1920s, the “Untouchables” impacted the system of crime in Chicago by ridding the streets of notorious criminals such as Al Capone. To comprehend the legacy of The Untouchables, it is important to first understand the cause of the crimes they were tasked with stopping. Much
During the roaring twenties the notorious mobster Al Capone or “Scarface” dominated the chaotic city of Chicago, he surpassed all his rivals and he was acknowledged as the most fearsome and powerful mobster that has terrorized the city. During his prime Al Capone have gather more than 1,000 members in his gang, accumulated more than $100millions as his personal income and he was able to claimed that he “owned” Chicago. Al Capone was one of the most well-known and villainous crime lords that ever existed, but how did Al Capone become such an infamous figure? Al Capone’s family settled in New York during the late nineteen centuries, The Capones were poor immigrants originated from Italy, they moved into a poor Brooklyn tenement where Al
Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929 was a tragic example of the violence that was rampant in Chicago during the Prohibition era. History Today illustrates the connection between violence and arguments between rival gangs which had began due to Prohibition by stating, “The assailants had presumably intended to kill Moran himself, but he arrived late at the scene. One of the dead men who looked and dressed rather like Moran may have been taken for him by the gunmen. They may have been a mixture of Capone's men and hitmen brought in from outside” (1), which allows us as readers to visualize the situation which may have led up to the murder of these gang members. The massacre resulted from the rivalry between Bugs Moran and Al Capone’s gangs, and it highlighted the violent and illegal activities that took place in Chicago during the Prohibition era.
This was life for the citizens in Chicago, everyone was kept in constant fear for their lives if they ever crossed Capone. The Federal Government knew they had to control the violent city of Chicago by eliminating the Gaffron 2 criminal that was behind it all, Al Capone. This is when our heroes enter, The Untouchables. In the movie, The Untouchables were a team assembled by Federal Treasury Officer, Eliot Ness, to help combat the massacres by mobsters in Chicago. The Federal Ban of alcohol (prohibition) led to an illegal market for liquor and in turn, more crime.
Capone kept bootlegging and making money. Everything was going good and Capone had everything under control besides the few gangs that kept on trying to take his turf. So eventually Capone got tired of it and ordered them to get executed. Thus leading to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
During the 1920’s gang related crime was a serious issue. The leader of all this violence and corruption was a man named Al “Scarface” Capone (“Al Capone”). This organized crime, dehumanization, and corruption, became the ultimate image of Chicago for people throughout the world. He was largely immersed in things like gambling, prostitution, and the illegal sale of liquor. He was not convicted for any of his crimes, even the St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929, until he was imprisoned for tax evasion (Horan).
During Prohibition, organized crime was on the rize. Especially in the city of Chicago, Illinois. This is where the most notorious gangster, Al Capone, rose to power. Al Capone had established himself as Chicago's top criminal boss by 1929, raking in over $60 million a year through gambling, prostitution, and other illicit endeavors. Local and federal authorities repeatedly detained him on suspicion of contempt of court, possession of a concealed weapon, and other offenses, but they were unable to establish a solid enough case against him to bring any charges related to his violent behavior.
However, the ‘police’ opened fire with machine guns and shot-guns.” (Woog 32). Capone remained a significant player in the Chicago underworld despite spending the majority of his career on the run from the law; he was finally imprisoned for tax evasion in 1931. Another notorious mob boss was Sam Giancana. He was one of the most infamous mafia leaders in American history, rumored to have links all the way up to the White House.
These terrible intimidating men were a part of the mafia. The mafia, caused by dark times in America and corrupt police force, was a very influential group to America and lead to many deaths and a hurt America. The Mafia was a group of “families” that ran most of the big cities in the 1920’s. These men came from Italy and migrated over to America.