Organized Crime In The 1920s

The 1920s were a period of significant social and economic change in United States history. One important consequence of the decade was the rise of organized crime and political corruption, which created a culture of violence and lawlessness that threatened the stability of the United States. This paper will examine the effects of illegal entrepreneurship, particularly the liquor trade, in two cities—Stockholm and New Orleans—during the Prohibition era. It will also analyze the impact of organized crime on Chicago in the days leading up to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the corruption that was rampant in the city before and during Prohibition.

The illegal liquor trade was a major factor in the rise of organized crime during the Prohibition

The kind of alcohol that was brought in was different, however, and the value of the trade higher in New Orleans. Also, the organization of the trade differed, in terms of ownership and distribution. In neither city did the illegal entrepreneurs appear to be very violent. The fact that the rate of violence was much higher in New Orleans, than in Stockholm, did not seem to affect their business methods.
(1)
In the quote above, we can understand just how the illegal trade of liquor supported organized crime during the Prohibition era. In Stockholm, the liquor trade was heavily regulated, and the government put in place a number of measures to ensure that only legal alcohol was bought and sold. In contrast, New Orleans experienced a significant rise in illegal alcohol trading, and organized crime quickly took control of the city's underworld. The illegal liquor trade thus illustrates the different levels of government control and enforcement in the two cities, and how this influenced the development of organized crime in

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.

The political corruption that was rife in Chicago during the Prohibition era was also a major factor in its development as a center of organized crime. The American State of Criminolgy conducted a study about the ties between political corruption and Prohibition:
The connection between corruption and organized crime is well established in criminology, but studies on the topic have focused on the biggest players, with