How Did Al Capone Affect Literature

Al Capone

Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, he was later known as Al Capone or “scarface”, he was the fourth of nine children. Capone’s parents immigrated from Naples, Italy, and settled in New York. Capone was raised in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn. He dropped out of school in sixth grade because he got in a fight with a teacher. Capone became a member of the James Street Gang, then he befriended the gangs leader, Johnny Torrio. Al Capone affected literature in many different ways, mainly because people started writing books about him.

When Capone was a teenager he graduated to the James Street mob’s senior gang, he worked as a gunman for the gang. Johnny Torrio and Frankie Uale (known as Yale) hired Capone to work as a bouncer

Capone often told reporters that he got the scars from fighting in France in World War I, even though he never served in the war. In 1919, he moved to Chicago to escape arrest on a murder charge. Torrio had already moved to Chicago to help is uncle run his prostitution ring. 1919 was the same year that prohibition started, so it was a perfect time for gangsters and mobsters to bootleg alcohol. Chicago was a perfect place for a bootlegging empire because of its location, and its size. Capone became a bagman and a enforcer, a person who collects money. His boss Colissimo was killed by a rival gang member in 1920, his death gave Torrio control of the gang. Torrio turned the bootlegging business into a multi-million dollar a year operation, Capone became Torrios top lieutenant. Capone and Torrio took over other small gangs and ran then out of business. Torrio and Capone ruled the south side and Charles Dion O’banion’s ruled the north side of Chicago. Three of Capone’s hitmen walked into the northside territory and shot up a flower shop, and killed O’banion. A short time after his death O’banion’s gang struck back and attempted to kill Torrio, he was critically wounded, but he survived. After the dust settled Torrio left

Capone was the most ruthless, and violent bootlegger in Chicago. Capone was suspected of being behind over two hundred murders. Capone hired some of the best hitmen in the game, Frank “the Enforcer” Nitti, August “Auggie Dogs” Pisano, and Louis “Luigi” Morgano, he also had a relationship with Mayor William “Big Bill” Thompson. To ensure that Capone’s politicians stayed in power he threatened voters into voting for his people, the people who did not cooperate were beaten and killed. Many other gangsters tried to kill Capone but never succeeded. After one of Capone’s biggest shootouts many of his rivals began to disappear. After all of the deaths and disappearances Moran became the North sides gang leader, in an attempt to kill him Capone ordered an attack on him known as the “Saint Valentine's Day Massacre”. Capone paid off police officers and got uniforms and cars for this shootout,