Civil War: Alcatraz Prison In The United States

Have you ever wondered what the worst prison would be like. Alcatraz was the worst prison ever it had the most baddest criminals ever. Alcatraz was nicknamed "the rock" because it was out in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It was also thought that no one could escape the prison because of all the dangers. Alcatraz opened on August 11, 1934 and closed on March 21, 1963. Alcatraz had some of the worst criminals some of the key moments were when Al Capone the worst bad guy came to Alcatraz, it also effects the people today because they see how bad it was for the prisoners to escape and have to stay there.

Security in Alcatraz was intense, and escaping was nearly impossible. The idea was maximum custody. The prisoners were on a strict schedule and were constantly being watched by the correctional officers. Official counts were held every 30 minutes during the day. (need source here) They were locked behind doors at all times, and the bars were tool-resistant.

Alcatraz was finally running in business, and all the worst prisoners were being sent there. All the inmates had a quick idea on how cummings was running Alcatraz. You couldn’t talk or you would be sent to the “hole” for a couple of weeks. The hole is “isolation”. Al Capone [the most famous gangster] was sent for the for a lot of times. And he went crazy because he kept making and remaking his bed. There was many escape attempts at alcatraz but none of them were successful. Two of them were reported missing.

Altogether, Alcatraz Penitentiary was a pretty tough prison to escape, and maybe that is why the government placed the worse criminals there. Out of thirty-six men who attempted to escape, only three went without being captured.

The Penitentiary Era 1790 to 1825 mass prison building era housed many prisoners with the goals of rehabilitation; deterrence and allowing the inmates to work during the day and when they returned were put into solitary confinement (Ortmeier 2006, 391). This new era was too focused on making prisoners think about their crimes and learn skills in workshops and general labor to reenter society as a productive member. Capital and corporal punishment were looked down upon by many and they did not actually fix the problems of rising crime. Often time’s prisoners were held in a large jail cells, men and women alike that resulted in rape and fighting among each other. The strengths of this era looked to keep prisoners safe and at times lessen

Overcrowding in our state and federal jails today has become a big issue. Back in the 20th century, prison rates in the U.S

We live in a society today filled with crime and fear. We are told not to go out after a certain hour, always move in groups, and even at times advised to carry a weapon on ourselves. There is only one thing that gives us piece of mind in this new and frightening world we live in: the American penal system. We are taught when growing up to believe that all of the bad people in the world are locked up, far out of sight and that we are out of reach of their dangerous grasp. Furthermore, the murderers and rapists we watch on television, we believe once are caught are to be forgotten and never worried about again. We wish on them the most horrible fates and to rot in the caged institution they are forced to call their new home. But, where do

C. As quoted in a report by the Bureau of Prisons, …”Alcatraz served an important purpose in taking the strain off the older and greatly overcrowded institutions… since it enabled us to move the smaller, closely guarded escape artists, the big-time racketeers… and those who needed protection from other groups…”

The Confederacy established Andersonville, that most infamous of Civil War prisons, in late February, 1864. It built a stockade in west central Georgia to accommodate approximately 10,000 prisoners of war. As the fighting moved ever deeper into the South in the last year of the war, the expanded stockade at one point held nearly 33,000 Union soldiers. The termination by the North of the prisoner of war exchanges which had existed previously and the continually depleting resources of the Confederacy left these prisoners stranded in miserable conditions.

Frank Morris was an inmate at the Federal Prison called Alcatraz. He was born on September 1, 1926. He was orphaned at the age of 11 at which time he stayed and lived in many foster homes. He spent a lot of time behind bars during his life.  He committed his first crime at the age of 13. He let narcotics possession and armed robbery get the best of him which landed him in prison. Frank was known as a very smart man. He ranked in the top 2% of the population for his intelligence. He was housed in Florida, Georgia and then Louisiana. He used his knowledge to break out the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He was then caught again and because of his past he found himself at “The Rock” in January 1960 as inmate number AZ1441.

“Brother against brother.” This was the Civil War being summed up in just three words. Mike Wright wrote, “On both sides of the war, men and women were locked away in dark prisons or held in outdoor camps under blistering sun and freezing snow. They were fed too little and lived and died under primitive conditions.” One would arguably say that the Northern prisons might feel a little more at home than the Southern prisons, but this wasn’t the case at all, the prisons on each side were both poorly managed, overcrowded and full of diseases.The intentions of the prisons were not necessarily to kill the inmates, but because of poor planning were the prisons filthy. Both the Union’s and the Confederate’s prisons were equally appalling.

The prison they may have escaped from is a lone island on the San Francisco bay. Surrounded by the freezing cold water chances of a swim escape was very slim the 50 degree water would kill in half an hour. The current would pull them out to the ocean where they would eventually drown. Inside Alcatraz is a high security prison for the worst of the worst. With tool proof cell bars prisoners would spend years trying to cut through the bars. Along with that the guards had machine guns and had continuous prisoner checks knowing if and when the prisoners tried

The American state prison was developed in the 19th century. The prison, named as the national penitentiary, holding over 800 prisoners separated in cells, allowed prisoners to socialize in the course of the day. Prisoners were assigned simple tasks such as weaving. The penitentiary is still used in the modern American world but has been expanded because it was initially created to house 500 prisoners. The operations of the penitentiary were based on the system of solitary confinement (Beckett & Herbert, 2010).

C. As quoted in a report by the Bureau of Prisons, …”Alcatraz served an important purpose in taking the strain off the older and greatly overcrowded institutions… since it enabled us to move the smaller, closely guarded escape artists, the big-time racketeers… and those who needed protection from other groups…”

Alcatraz Island has quite a distinct history. Many people know that Alcatraz served as a federal prison, but most are reluctant to know that this island served as fort. Built before the Civil War, it served two main purposes. First, that it was to guard the San Francisco bay area from enemy ships against a foreign invasion, and second, to hold hostage prisoners of war or POW's as they were called. In this report, I'll show you how this fortress came to be a federal prison, why it is no longer in operation today, and most importantly, to show why it was built in the first place. When the great "Gold Rush" of 1849 first started, California grew from what would be considered a small, unpopulated state, into