Eliot Ness: Bringing Down Al Capone

     The ultimate symbol of a gangster rule, is a guy by the name of Al Capone, who dominated the Chicago underworld by committing many crimes: such as illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution during prohibition. Capone’s life of gang activity started at a very young age. He created a multi-million dollar empire of crime in Chicago. He has been referred to as one of the most ruthless men of all time (Stockdale 45). He was a smart businessman, good family man, and a generous person, that lived a life full of murders and other crimes.

When we think of the mafia and gangs, one name comes to mind, Al Capone. Al Capone, also known as Scarface, was an infamous mafia leader who was active in Chicago during the Prohibition era. Having committed numerous criminal deeds and being the man behind countless murders, Capone was finally arrested for tax evasion . Now, you might ask, “How was he able to commit all these violent deeds without being imprisoned?” Well, we first have to go to the beginning of Capone’s life.

Al Capone was from Chicago and the greatest gangster in the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition happened from 1919 to 1933 and was famously known as the “Roaring Twenties”. The Eighteenth Amendment was passed and banned the manufacture and sales of all alcoholic beverages. The Volstead act made the law official and stated that owning any item used to produce alcohol was illegal. According to the background essay, “meant any beverage more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.” This meant that no alcohol with more than the legal amount was allowed. Anyone who did this would go to jail or be fined. People wanted alcohol, so bad that all these bars started to open. “Illegal bars, called speakeasies, opened up across the country” as stated in the background

Many say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but Le Thi Diem Thuy can paint a picture in her readers’ minds with less than twenty. She uses detailed imagery to construct a mosaic of five stories in The Gangster We Are All Looking For, a novel inspired by her own immigration to America. She takes on the role of a young girl who narrates the struggles she faces alongside her mother and father (also known as “Ma” and “Ba”) to adapt to their new environment and move on from past memories and failures. Through the use of intense imagery and figurative language, Le evokes vivid images and feelings in her readers to expose her characters’ dispositions, experiences, and emotions.

According Florida Gulf Coast University Serial Killer Database, there has been 2,625 serial killers so far in the United States, the most of any country in the world. However, this trend all started out with H.H. Holmes: America’s first serial killer. H.H. Holmes was born in New Hampshire as Herman Webster Mudgett in 1861. He was extremely bright in school and excelled beyond the other kids in his class. Because of this, he was bullied a lot by his jealous schoolmates. One incident stands out among all others, which was when Mudgett was dragged into the town doctor’s office and forced to confront a skeleton which he had previously found revolting. Despite the bully’s intentions, this cured Mudgett of his fear of skeletons, and made him more curious about the study of the human body and medicine, which piloted the rest of his career. Mudgett studied at the University of Michigan, where he finished college and medical school. Mudgett then moved to Chicago and changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes (H.H. Holmes) in 1886, where his torturous fantasies all began. Although this criminal mastermind only made one small mistake to make investigators red hot on his trail, H.H. Holmes should’ve been caught sooner because of his suspicious activities including the building of his castle and being involved in scams at the same time numerous people he was affiliated with went missing while selling copious amounts of skeletons shortly after they went missing.

Richard Kuklinski was a convicted murderer and contract killer who was born on April 11 in 1935. Kuklinski claims to have killed over 200 people over the course of his “career” during 1949 to 1986. At first, he would simply kill people who annoyed him, got on his nerves, or who he ‘needed’ to kill. When the mob caught wind of a man who killed as frivolously as Kuklinski, they began to hire him out as a contract killer. He lived in New Jersey and New York and committed most of his crimes in that area. In 1988, he was caught and sentenced to life in prison -- he later died in prison in March of 2006

Al Capone is one of the most recognized names in American history. Capone ran the City of Chicago with illegal activities. He appeared many times on newspapers all over the country. Every one of us has heard of Al Capone, but most of us don't k

In 1923, Capone and Torrio had to move their operations to the suburb of Chicago, Cicero. They were forced to move their operations because of the election of William E. Denver, who was determined to end the corruption in Chicago. This was not the end of Torrio and Capone’s political problems. Although, unlike in Chicago, Capone and Torrio did not let the mayoral election in Cicero push them out of the suburb. They ensured their candidates would be elected on March 31,1924, by causing some voters to be shot and killed (history.com, Al Capone).

“Everybody calls me a racketeer. I call myself a businessman. When I sell liquor, it’s bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on Lake Shore Drive, it’s hospitality.” This was Al Capone, the most notorious gangster of the 1920’s, comparing himself to the upper class.

Al Capone, who is also known as scarface is a child of an Italian immigrant family who became famous when he lead the Chicago mafia during the prohibition era. In 1925 Al Capone became the crime czar in Chicago, running gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging rackets. Al Capone expanded his territories by gunning down and wiping out rival gangs. Al Capone also started to take control of the government, he would kidnap opponent’s election workers and would threaten voters with violence. He eventually won office in Cicero.

Around 17 percent of taxpayers fail to comply with tax regulations in some way as the IRS estimates. In the 1930’s one person that was part of the 17 percent was Al Capone. He stated, “They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.” This statement shows that Al Capone felt as if he did nothing wrong. While Capone wasn't charged with everything he should he should have been charged with, Why wasn't Al Capone charged with murder because The first crime that got Capone put in prison was having a concealed weapon in Philadelphia , The cops had enough evidence off of Al Capone's tax fraud, and Because there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with murder.

In the 1920’s, alcohol became illegal because of the ratification of the 18th amendment. As this big change was being enforced, people didn’t exactly act in accordance with the new law. People still sold alcohol, even though it was illegal. These people were called bootleggers. One bootlegger in particular was Al Capone. There were also people who followed the law and tried to seize bootleggers. Eliot Ness was one of those individuals. Al Capone and Eliot Ness went head to head during the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Al Capone was an immoral and scandalous criminal. Eliot Ness was a hardworking and determined American Prohibition agent. Eliot Ness’ goal was to be an uncorrupt agent that enforced Prohibition.

After he took over Johnny Torrio`s empire, it was clear that his status in gangster world had changed. He was a big man in the Chicago underworld. Chicago was a smart place to build an illegal business, because at that time Chicago was a hard drinking town that was open to anyone who had enough money. The city became well known for its political corruption, wealth and sexual promiscuity. When Capone came to the city, the flesh trade was becoming the province of organized crime. Al Capone had many illegal business, they ranged from the most profitable – bootlegging to gambling and prostitution. In 1929 his business was worth of one hundred and five million dollars (Al Capone). In 2009 this amount was equal to 1,319,729,655 $. Apple sports a stock market value of $530 billion – the largest of any company in the world (Marketwatch.com).

Al Capone’s Role In Prohibition The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919 making the production and sale of alcohol in the United States illegal, thus creating havoc in the United States and skyrocketing criminal activity. Al Capone was a major contributor in crime during prohibition because of his methods of business which included controlling speakeasies, killing competitors, and, leading in gang activity. In 1921, Al Capone was age 22 and recruited by Johnny Torrio a bootlegger in Chicago.

Imagine living in a world where crime ruled. A world where gangsters were more powerful than politicians, owned the police, and ran the city in whatever way they felt. They robbed whom they wanted and killed when they didn't get their way. Now stop imagining and realize that this happened here in the United States of America in the 1920's. It was run by an organization made up mainly of Italians called the Mafia.