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Italian Botleggers In The 1920's

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Bootlegging The illegal alcohol business brought along high profits. The importation of liquor such as whiskey and rum to the East Coast market came primarily from Canada and West Indies (Critchley 139). The Italian gangs were an emerging force in bootlegging during Prohibition. Some Sicilian Mafioso escaped to the US, got involved in bootlegging and became part of the American Mafia. A study showed that in the 1920s 50 percent of New York’s bootleggers were Jewish, 25 percent Irish and 25% Italians (Hortis 49). Many independent Italian bootleggers started doing business with other bootleggers and therefore joined in a network of economic cooperation and gradually evolved into larger gangs. By the late 1920s, there were 5 Italian …show more content…

Each of the five New York families received a vote on the Commission (Hortis 96). They engaged in activities such as racketeering, conspiracy, loan sharking, money laundering, murder narcotics, gambling, waste management and blackmailing (The 5 Families of New York). The American crime family had a specific hierarchy. At the top was the boss who had unquestioned authority following the underboss, the capos or captains who each controlled a crew of 10 soldiers. There was also a consigliere who acted as an advisor and ombudsman. At the bottom there were associates and people who did business with the family (Mafia in the United States). Becoming a member meant loyalty, obeying the rules and a lifetime of …show more content…

His social Security Program in 1935 gave private pension funds (Wolf) The higher taxes on the wealthy, the controls over banks and public utilities and the work relief program for unemployed appeared effective in the __ceasing of the decline of the economy. The reliefs programs prevented the need of committing crimes. African-Americans suffered more in comparison to others during the Great Depression. In Harlem more than 50 percent had no jobs. It was the first time black needs came into consideration and antidiscrimination provisions were included in the New Deal Programs, but still individual agency employees denied aid to African Americans. Under these conditions, the first riot exploded in 1935. The reason was the rumor that Lino Rivera, a sixteen year-old black Puerto Rican had been beaten by an employee at the Kress Five and Ten store after Rivera tried to shoplift a 10-cent penknife ( Cristina

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Prior to prohibition multiple street gangs were involved in criminal activity throughout the city. Additionally, a scheme was brought to Chicago from Italy known as the “Black Hand”. It involved threatening residents with violence unless money was paid; the extortion letters were stamped with a hand in ink. Some black hands joined forces and created organized criminals (American Mafia History, ND).

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Some were adding noxious chemicals, mixed with tap water and perhaps a dash of real liquor for flavor. The distribution of alcohol was more complex than other types of criminal activity, and gangs eventually emerged and figure out that they could control and entire local part of bootlegging operations. Eventually sooner or later gangs in different cities began to interact with each other and they extended their methods

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During the the Mafia including Torrio and Capone got stupid rich. Once Torrio had crazy money he eventually retired from the mafia in 1925 giving Prostitution, gambling, bootlegging and other illegal activities to the one and only Al Capone aka (scarface). This was the start of organized crime in the

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In the article “Capone, Al” by Benson, Sonia, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine it states, “Prohibition gave rise to organized crime in America. Prior to the 1920s, gangsters operated independently, often in ethnic enclaves, but Prohibition created a national market for illegal liquor. By the mid-1920s, organized crime was a highly structured, well-organized enterprise, and gangsters had become national figures. Gangsters such as Al Capone in Chicago and Lucky Luciano in New York City became powerful kingpins of organized crime, with vast empires built on bootlegging, gambling, and other illegal activities.” Prior to Prohibition, gangsters operated independently, but during the 1920s, they became highly structured and well-organized enterprises.

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Bootlegging was a highly profitable but illegal business during the 1920s, a period known as Prohibition in the United States. Prohibition was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages that lasted from 1920 to 1933. Transporting alcohol in a hazardous and risky manner, bootleggers would deliver it to illegally operated speakeasies, while other bootleggers produced alcohol from home in dangerous brewing operations. While the intention behind Prohibition was to reduce crime, corruption, and social problems related to alcohol consumption, it had the opposite effect. Bootlegging was a large part of the crime-ridden 1920s and greatly contributed to the lawlessness of the time.

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Bootleggers and other gangsters of the 1920s killed, cheated, stole, bribed, and in the case of Charles Birger, charmed their way into the hearts and memories of the American people with the same allure as the cowboys and outlaws of the old west. However, in the 1920’s, instead of bar fights and bank robbing, bootleggers raided the freight cars chock full of the “liquid gold” of prohibition: alcohol. Bootleggers had their start in the south with the ratification of the 18th amendment in the United States Constitution, banning the consumption and sale of all alcoholic beverages. Big time gang leaders and small operation hillbillies alike saw this prohibition as an enormous money making opportunity as they knew what the American people wanted,

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Gangs were formed and bootlegging began to provide quick and easy money. Bootleggers were people who made and sold illegal alcohol. The price of alcohol soared. Many crime lords took notice and used it to their advantage. Al Capone was one of the most notorious crime mobsters in the 1920’s.

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Before the Prohibition era came into the picture, the mafia was a much smaller player in American life, but after the sale of alcohol was outlawed, the mafia, already known to act deviously, quickly began making and selling their own drinks, making them wealthier and more powerful in American life. The more power given to these crime syndicates through alcohol sales made them all the more powerful and dangerous, leading to violence in the streets of America’s big cities, one such incident being the infamous Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Aside from the obvious violence and such, many common people revered these mafia men as heroes for bringing them alcohol and jobs, “…such as the American mobsters and European crime syndicates thrived, most common people looked upon these organizations as heroes.” (Nash. Paragraph 2).

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Bootlegging was defined as the illegal making, selling, or transportation of alcohol. It was a very popular and perilous business. Only the most intelligent and least flamboyant people avoided prison. However, in most cases the excessive wealth and materialism lead to many people’s imprisonment or downfall (Vasquez, 2014). Despite being well aware of the risk, Capone only had one intention: make the operation bigger than what it already was.

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Since “ the distribution of liquor was necessarily more complex than other types of criminal activity . . . “ a whole chain of local bootleggers and smugglers was created to transport information to local nightclubs, speakeasies, and other criminal chains (“Bootlegging”). As the chains grew and started to receive more income, different gangs across America started to work with each other, which lead up to more dangerous interactions like narcotics traffic, gambling parties, and etc (“Bootlegging”). Even though Prohibition was repealed in 1933, that did not stop bootlegging. Since alcohol was still prohibited in many states, bootleggers still existed and continued to eventually arise into its own illegal business.

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With such a large percentage of the population depending on illegal alcohol manufacture, known as bootlegging, gangsters thrived in these times. No one could have expected the effect that the 18th amendment would have on organized crime, but as the sale and manufacture of alcohol became more underground, the more control the mafia had over the business (“Men's Fashion & The Public Enemy”). The alcohol sold by these groups was often of lesser quality, and some was even dangerous to consume (“18th And 21st Amendments”). This viability did not stop bootleggers from making money from poorly made alcohol. In fact, one of the most infamous gangsters at the time, Al “Scarface” Capone, used bootlegging to gain leverage in the

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These people were the major crime bosses of New York, Chicago, Atlantic City, and L.A. The crime bosses and their mafias used this money to fuel other illegal ventures. Crime grew exponentially. The mobsters of Chicago, Detroit, and New York City all found ways to traffic banned items during prohibition to grow their mobs. The Chicago Mafia alone earned an estimated 4,000,000 dollars a year on average during prohibition. Police and the government officials relied on the mob for alcohol.

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Within the United States, the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor, known as “bootlegging” become an evident sight across the nation. The earliest known bootleggers began smuggling foreign liquor into the United States from across Canada, Mexico, and other sea borders. These illegal activities began to be controlled by the Mafia and other gangsters who transformed themselves into successful criminal enterprises. Primarily, Italian-American gangs entered the rapidly growing bootleg liquor business and became sophisticated criminals, skilled at smuggling, fraud and bribing public officials (OSU). Chicago’s Al Capone became the most notorious example, “earning an estimated $60 million annually from the bootlegging and speakeasy business” (OSU).

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