Informative Essay On Alcatraz

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.

An example of what happens when prisons become overcrowded took place in Trenton, New Jersey in 1952. The small prison was made up of "sexual psychopaths, passive homosexuals, aggressive 'wolves' with long records of fights and stabbings, escape artists, agitators and incorrigibles of all ages" (Blackwell). While Trenton’s overcrowding was minimal compared to today’s standards, there was 1,312 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,190. The cells were old and rundown, barely lit, and infested with rats that were fed better than the inmates (Blackwell). The prison began hiring tougher, more rugged correction officers to combat the rowdy inmates. The inhumane treatment of the inmates contributed to an unstable and volatile emotional state among the inmates. Around midnight on March 29, 1952, the inmates began to tear apart their cots, using the metal legs to pry open their cell doors. The inmates “chased their guards out of the wing, barricaded the entrance and wrecked everything they could lay their hands on. They smashed cell toilets, shredded beds, broke windows and set fires” (Blackwell). The guards broke the will of the inmates after 46 hours by using tear gas and water hoses. Two weeks later, a group

Accordingly, the inmates mostly just wanted better living conditions, and to be treated more like people and less like criminals. The inmates wanted religious freedom. They wanted to have basic needs met such as the toilet paper issue as well as the showering, and they

Conditions inside the prison were no better. For starters, many of the prisoners were those who had committed menial crimes. Worse so, many were war heroes, back from Vietnam who couldn’t find a job and thus had to go about other illegal means to stay alive, and thus were thrown in prison. Attica prison in particular was famous at the time among prisoners for having the most horrific treatment of their inmates. Guards did whatever they could both legally and illegally to keep their prisoners in perpetual fear and discomfort. The prisoners were not just treated like children, but as animals. The one thing prisoners treasure the most is their contact with the outside world. It keeps them sane and allows them to remain in some type of contact both with their families as well as with what is going on outside the prison walls. But, guards did whatever

C. Contrary to what the movies portray, there were no experiments made on the prisoners, and the inmates that were transferred there were already twisted and disturbed; Alcatraz didn’t turn them into monsters. There was however, a dungeon that prisoners were locked in if they misbehaved, and they also had a rule of silence, where they could not

The seizure of Alcatraz is considered to the one most impactful moments in the American Indians rights movement, only second to the Battle of Little Bighorn. The “Alcatraz Proclamation,” was written in November of 1969 as a result of poor living standards facing Americans throughout the west coast. The Indians of All Tribes used the proclamation to inform all American Indian tribes throughout North America their intent to move to Alcatraz Island. The letter

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

When you think of Alcatraz do you think of a creepy prison with only the worst prisoners? But Alcatraz wasn't really like that, in fact a lot of prisoners wanted to be transferred to Alcatraz because of the benefits. But how has Alcatraz affected other U.S. prisons?

No prisoner at Alcatraz had never had these materials and the plan Frank Lee Morris and the two brothers had used to escape. For example they had used stolen spoons and nail clippers to dig through the cement of their cell and to a utility closet that lead to the wall outside (Library of Congress “1”). You might be think how did the guards not see the giant hole in the back of their cell they had used cardboard to cover it up so no one except them knew where it was(Vega 2). After they got to the utility closet they made their plan to escape. Their plan was,”Once everyone had fallen asleep they had premade paper heads of themselves to place in their bed so the guards thought they were in bed.”(Hopkinson “1”). Once they dug through and had placed the heads in the bed they would have gone out to the bay but had to be very careful of not getting spotted by the search light. At the bay they made a raft out of 50 raincoats that they stole and set out to the sea while fighting rough currents, cold water, and shark infested water (Vega

B. Alcatraz was to be operated on the principle of very limited privileges to inmates. The privilege of visitors had to be earned, and mail privileges were limited. They each held jobs within the prison in the tailor shop, laundry, cobblers shop, model shop, gardening, or help with the food prep in the mess hall.

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

As the cold waters rush into the San Francisco Bay, they crash up against an island standing in the strait. This rock is hidden by the fog and isolated by the chilling waters of the Pacific that flow in and out every day. It has a gloom that hangs about its rocky face most know it as Alcatraz but the men who experienced this island, referred to her as “The Rock”. To the men confined there, it is not only the ultimate in isolation but the most ironic because they are there in the midst of the activity of a busy harbor with small craft darting to and from San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Richmond, and Sausalito; within sound of the honking horns of a ceaseless procession of automobiles crossing the bridges; within sight of ocean

Jails have no such facilities as compared to prisons. The convicts have access to food and water, bathing facilities, there are also socialization places which are restricted and the security is not as tight as that of prisoners, (WiseGeek, 2003).