Al Capone: The King of Chicago Essay

This threatened Torrio and Capone’s business so they moved their business to Cicero. However, in 1924 an election for Cicero’s mayor endangered their business once again so the two came up with a plan to intimidate the citizens into voting for their candidate, even killing the competition’s voters if necessary. Although their plan worked, one of Capone’s brothers, Frank was shot in the process.

During the period of prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was made illegal, through the Volstead act of 1919, leading to the first and only time an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. Throughout this time in American history gangsters were common and were constantly increasing in every city but one in particular stood out from all the others making a significant impact on American history. Scarface, Alphonse Capone or more commonly known as Al Capone; who was the most infamous gangster, taking advantage of the era of Prohibition, ran an organized crime association in Chicago during the 1920s. He was responsible for over 500 murders; he had 700 men under his control and earned $60 million a year for bootlegging. Capone, who was glamorised in media and shown as charitable to the helpless was also controlling and violent and became an iconic figure of the successful American gangster who insisted he was just ‘supplying the public demand’.

Prohibition led to the bootlegging of liquor and the gang wars of the 1920’s. The most notorious gangster of all time, known as Al Capone, was the most powerful mob leader of his era. He dominated organized crime in the Chicago area from 1925 until 1931. Capone grew up during the roaring 20s in Chicago. He joined the James Street gang, lead by Johnny Torrio. In 1920, Torrio asked Capone to move to Chicago and work with his uncle who controlled the city’s largest prostitution and gambling ring at the time. Capone had liked that idea. Later that year the Prohibition act came into affect and Capone became interested in selling illegal whiskey and other alcoholic beverages. Al Capone was America's best known gangster and greatest

Al Capone, who was born in New York in 1899, was one of the most prominent gangsters in America in the 1920s. He was the son of Italian immigrants, and after leaving school at a young age, became a small-time criminal. Known as ‘Scarface,’ he had links to the leader of the Five Points Gang, Johnny Torrio, and moved to Chicago in 1920, where he gradually rose through the ranks as a partner in saloons, gambling and brothels. They moved their operations to Illinois after an offer to work with Jim Colosimo, a central figure in Chicago’s brothel business. Gang rivalry heated up after a dispute between Torrio and Colosimo over whether to begin in the bootlegging business, and in 1920, Colosimo was murdered allegedly by Al Capone. After this, Torrio’s criminal empire expanded massively throughout Chicago, before leaving in 1925 and handing over operations to Capone. After taking over, Capone expanded operations even further, and was able to control Chicago’s Mayor, ‘Big Bill’ Thompson and fix his elections. A local newspaper from the time reported

Once the organized crime families were established they were the main contributors to the illegal “Bootlegging” of alcohol. During the 20’s there was a great deal of violent crimes. Most of them could be connected back to the organized crime families. Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone was a gangster who led illegal activities such as the smuggling and the bootlegging of alcohol during the prohibition. Even though he had a tough exterior he was a caring man he was the first to open up a soup kitchen in Chicago (hammer). Capone’s estimated annual revenue was around 100 million dollars. He had many men working for him such as Frank Nitti, August Pisano and Louis Morganno. He supplied Chicago with most of its alcohol. (Capone: the man and his era).

Crime is a timeless component of society. For as long as humans have existed among each other, crime has coincided. Throughout time, crime has taken many different forms, some much more subtle than others. Alphonse Capone, a first generation American-Italian born in Brooklyn, would dramatically redefine the nature of criminality. Al Capone was a notorious Chicago mob boss who played a crucial role in the Chicago Outfit as well as the bootlegging industry. Throughout his rise to power in the Chicago, Capone took part in many nefarious dealings that culminated in the creation of a undisputed “King of Crime” until his death in 1947. However, Capone is a timeless figure, his impact on Chicago and influence he’s had on the world of crime, continues to live on.

Al Capone was a highly known gangster in the 1920s Alphonse Capone born in Brooklyn, New York to a poor US immigrant couple, Gabriele and Teresina Capone, seeking a better opportunity for their then big family of eight children. He was known for running many lucrative illegal businesses that included alcohol bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and protection. Al Capone was so notorious that he would murder those who got in his way. With little prosecution of his actions, Al Capone believed his self to being unstoppable. Al Capone, being raised as a kid in poverty learned hands on how to organize crime and became the biggest force in organized crime.

Gabriele and Teresina Capone, along with their three sons, were two of the 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894. After five years in the United States, a forth son joined the family as Teresina gave birth to the family's Alphonse Capone. Since their arrival, nothing "about the Capone family was inherently disturbed, violent, or dishonest... They were a law-abiding, unremarkable Italian-American family with conventional patterns of behavior and frustrations; they displayed no special genius for crime, or anything else, for that matter," (Bardsley 2000).

now the story behind him. What made him to be the most feared gangster in the city of Chicago? How did this kid from a rough neighborhood and no money grow up to have $60,000,000? I’ve always been fascinated with organized crime but had never been taught anything in school about it. This report gave me the chance to explore something interesting and also educational. The more I researched Al Capone, the more I wanted to learn about him. He may look like an innocent Italian at a glance, but he

During the prohibition era of the 1920's, if one wasn't an enemy of Alphonse (Al) "Scarface" Capone, was he, in many eyes, a hero? Due to his savvy street smarts and the corrupt rebellion of the decade, Al Capone was not only a popular commentary of the time, but is now a legend. His classic boy from the ghetto turned generous multi-millionaire story only adds to the heroism seen in this most famous Chicago mobster. Chicago's industries, open spaces and four seasons were an enormous magnet for the 19th century Europeans looking for a home and opportunity. The frontier Chicago grew into a wonderful collection of ethnic neighborhoods - Irish, Italian, Russian, Greek, German, Polish and others. In many of these communities, making beer and

Al Capone was a child from an Italian immigrant family, And was one of the most famous Mafia leader in the world during the Prohibition Era in Chicago. Also he was known as "Scarface," Al capone was sent to Alcatraz Prison in Philadelphia in 1931 from a tax evasion conviction. Al Capone had a personal fortune estimated at $100 million and was responsible for countless murders, His most famous one was the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre.

When Chicago mayor announced that he planned to get rid of the city of corruption, Jonny and Al moved their based beyond the city limits to suburban Cicero. The mayoral election in Cicero threatened their operations. Jonny and Al intimidated the election. Some voters were shot and killed. They sent the Chicago police to respond, and they gunned down Al Capone’s brother Frank in the street. Their rival mobster tried to take out Jonny but they missed him, he decided to leave the business and returned to Italy, leaving the entire operation to Capone. He moved his headquarters to a good site in the Metropole Hotel in downtown

“ The evil genius of all gangsterdom was Al Capone, first haled to Chicago at 23 by Johnny Torrio, who was at the time boss of the Windy City’s underworld” (Edey 175). By the time Capone took control in 1925 he controlled all the speakeasies in Chicago, which were estimated to be at 10,000, and had a gang 700 strong to enforce his reign (Edey 175). During Capone’s reign “Chicago suffered upwards of 400 gang murders a year” (Edey 175).

His name was Alphonse Capone. His background, along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn. It was a new beginning in a New World. The Capone’s were a quiet and peaceful family. Nothing about the Capone family was disturbed, violent, or dishonest. The children and the parents were close. They really enjoyed baseball and were often at games. There was no mental disabilities, no traumatic event that sent the boys into the dangerous life of crime. They did not display sociopath or psychotic personalities; they were not crazy. They were a law-abiding, unremarkable Italian-American family with conventional patterns of behavior and frustrations. They displayed no special genius for crime. Family Parents-Gabriele

This was the biggest display of power that that any outlaw has ever achieved, to have complete control over the nation’s second largest city. Eventually, like most gangsters of the time, Torrio was hit by a member of the O’Banionites of the north section of Chicago. So now the south side was controlled by Capone and he had a plan to make the whole city of Chicago his domain. He was now public enemy number one. The only threat to his absolute power was Dion O’Banion. One day when Dion O’Banion was out side his flower shop he was gunned down by an unknown assassin. It is not very odd for Capone not to be involved in it, because O’Banion had a lot of enemies from other gangs .