Get Capone: the Rise and Fall of America’s Most Wanted Gangster

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.

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

The prohibition caused much controversy in the 1920’s. The 18th amendment was passed on Jan 16, 1920, it said in Title II, Section 3 the National Prohibition Act states that "No person shall on or after the date when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in this act." (United States constitution). The Prohibition opened up many big business opportunities in the illegal marketing of alcohol. The people who took advantage of this opportunity were known as “Bootleggers”. With the enactment of this law organized crime was established, allowing men such as Al Capone to capitalize

Al “Scarface” Capone a man of mystery and most notorious gangsters in american history. Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, too poor immigrant parents. 1920 Capone had a huge bootlegging operation during prohibition. Using gambling and prostitution. Responsible of many brutal deaths of rival gangsters, But the one he is known for was the Valentine’s day massacre.

Today in the world there are several men and women who once thought they had everything going for them. They had the money, the fame, and the fortune. Of course being caught up in the moment means no worry, no stress, and no problems. However, that doesn’t work out for everyone. One of those people are Alphonse Gabriel Capone or as you may know Al Capone.

    Prohibition caused gangs and organized crime to thrive in the 1920’s. Big gangsters made fortunes off of bootlegging, or the illegal make and distribution of alcohol, and speakeasies, illegal clubs or bars that sold alcohol. Al Capone of Chicago was one of the most well known gangsters of the time. He made up to $60 million dollars annually bootlegging and running speakeasies

When caught bootlegging liquor you would be issued a fine, this made things alright because everyone was happy, the laws were so hard to enforce that the government was just happy collecting fine money and the bootleggers were happy cause it was a small price to pay for the amount of money they were making. The most ironic thing about prohibition is that it is the major bases for what we call organized crime.

One of the most notorious gangsters/bootlegger in American history was Al Capone. Iorizzo explains how Al Capone got his infamous name “Scarface.” The incident occurred one night when he insulted a patron’s sister at the bar he worked at. A customer unhappy with Al Capone’s remark used a bottle opener to leave Al Capone with three scars on his face. As Al Capone grew older, he was accused of many crimes including murder. No evidence was ever found or any witnesses that could ever tie them to accuse Al Capone of murder. One case was the death of Bill McSwiggin however, Al Capone stated that he nothing to do with the crime. Another piece of history from Al Capone was The St. Valentine’s Day massacre in which Al Capone ordered multiple hits on gang members, providing a serious threat to civilian safety in Chicago.

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

It’s the beginning of the 1950’s. The citizens of Chicago are awaken by gunfires of mobsters of the “Chicago Outfit's,” lead by Al-Capone. Al-Capone was one of the best mobster kings in America, he got away with multiple murders, bootlegged alcohol during the prohibition era, along with numerous other court cases.

The huge public demand for alcohol led to a soaring business for bootleggers. When prohibition began, people immediately wanted a way to drink. Hence, the extremely profitable bootlegging business was born. Before Prohibition gangs existed, but had little influence. Now, they had gained tremendous power almost overnight. Bootlegging was easy - New York City gangs paid hundreds of poor immigrants to maintain stills in their apartments. Common citizens, once law abiding, now became criminals by making their own alcohol. However, this posed risks for those who made their own. "The

They became rich and powerful by providing speakeasies and others who were willing to buy their alcohol. Some bootleggers got their alcohol from other countries. “The first large-scale organized criminal activity of the Prohibition Era was smuggling…The manufacture, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages were perfectly legal in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean,” (Cohen). During the Roaring Twenties, someone who bought alcohol from other countries had to smuggle the alcoholic beverages inside the country. “As soon as Prohibition went into effect there was a dramatic increase in Mexican imports of scotch whiskey from Britain. The Mexicans weren't drinking more; eventually all of this whiskey made its way north across the border” (Cohen). 0Bootleggers were powerful and rich and became one of the biggest reasons for the increase of organized crime in the Era of Prohibition.

Because liquor was no longer legally available, the public turned to gangsters who took on the bootlegging industry and supplied them with liquor. Because the industry was so immensely profitable, more gangs participated. As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much

Some states such as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts did not enforce the prohibition act of 1920, causing funds to drop to the states for law enforcement agencies(GILDER). The prohibition Caused the rise of organized crime in the United States. Prohibition stated the creation of toxic moonshine, bootleggers used lead coils and lead soldering putting lead in moonshine(PEARSON). Others put additives in moonshine such as iodine and creosote causing blindness or even death. Over 12,000 people died from toxic moonshine Al Capone made over 60 million dollars from Bootlegging that’s 60 million dollars other US citizens lose. Many Bootleggers used Industrial alcohol in Products. The Federal Government started putting more poisonous chemicals in industrial alcohol causing over 10,000 deaths from consumption(PEARSON).Overall there are more negative effects of prohibition in the 1920’s. From poisonous alcohol to enforcement budget cuts it is all negative and is why prohibition failed. Even though prohibition stopped some americans from drinking alcohol it created a new door for new kinds of alcohol to come in to the US. Prohibition is bad in my opinion because it caused unnecessary deaths in america. That sets a final ending to the 18th Amendment in the 1920’s and forever

Bootlegging brought in many great profits (Sifakis 111). Al Capone, a famous Italian-American gangster, made about $60 million from bootlegging (725). The gangs established illegal distilleries and breweries. Some gangs even produced their own alcohol to keep a steady supply of it for themselves (111). More than one million gallons of bootleg alcohol had been illegally brought into the United States by the late 1920s. Bootlegging even occurred within the United States because even though alcohol was illegal, the process of it was not (Organized Crime and Prohibition 1). Bootleg alcohol had begun being