Causes Of Gangs In The 1920's

Gangs had also become a big part of the 1920’s, they had a lot of say in went on round the towns they lived in. Gangs had a lot of control of how liquor got in and out of their towns “It was smuggled in from the seas off both the east and west coasts and brought overland from both Canada and Mexico.” (McNeill). Everyday people would smuggle liquor in from all over if it was hard to find by them. They would sell it to family and friends all over and speaks did the same thing. They would bring in liquor from other places so they could keep their speaks open. keeping their speaks open allowed them to still make an income in order to keep their businesses still open. Gangs in some places had no trouble trying to kill people if they got in the way

Many people ended up dying from many causes during prohibition. But some were more serious causes than others. Mostly because some were intentional shootings between gangs and folks arguing over the liquor because of the little amount available. Others were because gangs would fight over territories and if other gangs were trying to sell to their customers. Some gang fights even became famously known “ The worst episode was the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929. Disguised as policemen, Capone's men gunned down in broad daylight seven men from rival gangster Moran's group. Capone became famous as Public Enemy No. 1, and Chicago's reputation suffered.” (Lusted). The St. Valentine's day massacre is one of the most well known incidences of the roaring twenties. It was a scare to all at that time and had a shocking affect on others. If some didn't take Capone seriously before, they did

For some people dealing was the only way they could make money if they couldnt get an actual job “Responding to the public's desire, gangs in the cities organized and delivered the liquor.” (McNeill). Even though the selling of liquor was illegal it provided jobs for those who couldn't make an income. It was a way for those who didn't have jobs to provide for their families so they could buy food and pay for shelter. But at the same time they risked going to jail and leaving their families. Also since Al Capone was known for getting into trouble, to try and take some of the attention away from that he opened soup kitchens “Hoping to gain favorable publicity and help the city's people, he opened a soup kitchen at 935 South State Street. Capone's kitchen fed the hungry three times a day.”(McNeill). Capone opened this soup kitchen because in reality he wasn't that bad of a person. He did some bad things but in reality he wanted to do things to try and help the community because the government wasn't. But although he was interested in helping the community he also did it to try and draw attention away from all of the bad things he was doing.trying to persuade people that he would provide things for the community like this if they didn't turn him in for the other bad things he had been doing.

Overall the 1920’s was full of new changes some good and some bad. It changed history