Essay On The Rise Of The Italian American Mafia

Anthony Brideson

Professor Hoff

US History II

21 April 2023

The Rise and Fall of the Italian-American Mafia Throughout hundreds of years, organized gangster activities were as prevalent as ever, causing an upheaval in crime, with it most notably taking place in none other than Italy. While the Sicilian Mafia was greatly feared and respected in their native homeland, when some of these criminals came over to the United States at the dawn of the immigration wave in the country - a semblance of the crime wave would carry over in spades, causing occasional problems for the people of the United States. Still, it would remain fairly small, with the crime wave being less common than in their native homeland at the time. However, at the dawn of Prohibition,

Of the twenty-plus families, arguably the most prevalent of these families would be none other than the Gambino crime family, particularly the charismatic leader of the family in its later years, John Gotti. From the 50s through the 60s, the mafia would grow vastly in terms of general power, and take millions from the government, along with racketeering greatly, which carried over from their 1920s counterparts. In a report, Andris Cilo among other writers would note that New York City was “both a geographical and organizational center of this network, and home to the well-known 'five families': the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino, Profaci and Bonanno families, who together comprise 46% of the network. Three members from the nearby Elizabeth (NJ) family and one member each from the Buffalo, Detroit, and New Orleans families are also based in NYC” (Andris et al). Similarly, they note that “In addition to causing widespread violence and disorder, one 1960s U.S. Department of Justice estimate suggested that Mafia-affiliated groups grossed about 40 billion USD annually in illegal or untaxed industries” (Andris et al). Thus, it is easy to see that the mafia would continue well into the 1970s and 1980s, and then some. As time

A Senate committee has a hearing on international fraud and organized crime, and the American Mafia goes unmentioned. The Department of Justice lists its principal targets for drug enforcement, and Mafia leaders don't make the cut. The New York City Police Department has yet another major corruption scandal, and none of the events involve the Mafia. A major numbers banker in New York, "Spanish Raymond" Marquez, who paid 5 percent of his profits to the Mafia in the 1960s, now pays only $300 per week” (Reuter). There are plenty of factors as to why the Mafia began to crumble at the seams, the least of which was due to the involvement of other gangsters from other countries. For example, Asians in organized crime are much less likely to be hit with an undercover sting operation, as opposed to the common undercover mobsters the mafia deals with (Reuter). There is also the mafia’s lack of involvement in other drugs, as well, like cocaine, which was a major farming machine for high-profile criminals during the 1980s, with the mafia's lack of involvement hurting their numbers greatly, along with taking massive hits in the racketeering business, the trucking business, and, arguably the most damaging, in the court