Italian Mafia Essay

Italy was one of the earliest countries to form a mafia due to unjust oppression from foreign governments. When Italian immigrants fled Sicily to enter the United States, they brought along their underground government with them, as well. The US deprived some of those immigrants from entering America which furthermore sparked the Mafia’s foundation. In An Examination of U.S. Immigration Policy and Serious Crime, Horowitz states that immigrant crime has promoted fear. Newcomers brought their criminal features who converted their societies into zones of lawlessness. Tensions between different ethnic groups have caused uneasiness. Jewish gangsters in New York victimized strikers into returning to work and stole from people. Italians ran extortion rings in San Francisco and prostitution houses in Chicago (Horowitz). America realized that allowing immigrants into their country has drastically increased their crime rates. Immigrants have brought corruption into America and illegal services. Italian immigrants brought their clandestine union which gave rise to the Blackhand. In his book, American Dreamers, Groth presents what Michael Woodiwiss said, “bootlegging presented second generation southern and eastern European immigrants that were Jews, Italians, Sicilians, Poles, Slavs and others with opportunities to climb the criminal hierarchy, many of whom accepted this as a form of occupation” (Woodiwiss 8). Immigrants have

Although the Mafia is most associated with the Prohibition era of the 1920’s when it dominated crime in all major US cities, the true beginnings of the most infamous criminal organization started quite earlier. Beginning in the late 1800s, many Italians immigrated to New York City due to continued rumors of success in the area. This trend continued out of the 19th century and into the 20th as over 500,000 Italians immigrated to the United States (Sifakis). As Italian citizens migrated to the cities of the US, they brought along organized Italian criminals, who formed an organization known as Costra Nosa, translating to ‘our thing’, today we call it the Mafia.

History of the American Mafia 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.

The Sicilian Mafia and the Camorra (mafia group located in Naples) were both created in the mid-1800’s (FBI 2010). These are the two mafia groups we will focus on. The Sicilian Mafia was originally an underground secret society formed to unite the peasants as resistance fighters and vigilante justice to protect their families and friends. In the 1920’s these chivalrous groups developed into what we know as the mafia. The Camorra was originally a prison gang that took controlled the prison and collected fees from the prisoners and guards for keeping order. They continued to meet after leaving prison and spread throughout Naples. They are currently Italy’s largest organized crime group with over 7,000 members (FBI 2010).

The Italian Mafia in the U.S. can trace its origins all the way back to the Sicilian Mafia which was founded in Sicily during the 1800’s (Italian Organized Crime). After thousands of years of different armies with different nationalities conquering Italy and exploiting its people, the Sicilians became to be more clannish and family focused. Originally they were just resistance fighters that were protecting their friends and family. They were relied on for protection, justice, and survival. Nobody cared if they got money from it because it came from the oppressive authorities. Members of these groups were known as “Men of Honor” and they were well respected and even admired because they looked out for their family and kept silent sometimes even unto death. They didn’t become an organized crime group until the 1920’s however (Italian Organized Crime). It was around this same time that the US began to see what later became La Cosa Nostra or “our thing,” better known as the American Mafia which was aided by the “thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi” who came to the United States illegally (Italian Organized Crime). The modern American Mafia is credited to Charles “Lucky” Luciano who came over in the 1920’s (Italian Organized Crime). Luciano structured La Cosa Nostra just like their Sicilian

The Mafia, just like the Forty Thieves, was a tight group of immigrants living together hoping to make money and exploit anything they could. “"Mafia" was originally the name of a loose association of Sicilians in the middle ages who collaborated for protection and vigilante law enforcement during the Spanish occupation of the island.” The Mafia was particularly centered in large cities like New York. Italian immigrants came to America looking for a better life with greater opportunities. “In New York City alone, the number of Italians soared from 20,000 to 250,000 between 1880 and 1890, and by 1910, that number had jumped to 500,000 immigrants.” The increase in the number of Italians in New York meant there was a greater chance that they could potentially break the law and join

The New Mafia refers to style of mafia that became increasingly prevalent in the 1950s. Prior to the New Mafia, the Old Mafia ran their operations with a focus on achieving power in society. They often associated with those in political power, even to the extent of pledging their alliance with a powerful political party in Italy, the Christian Democratic Party (Abadinsky, 2017). In return, their pledge would essentially secure an unofficial position of power within the Italian government.

Spencer Chrinko Mrs.Flagg-Detwiler Cultural Diversity November 15, 2016 During the 1920s in an effort to reduce crime and corruption the prohibition on alcohol was passed, little did these law makers know they were only worsening the situation. The streets started to run rampant with crime, and bootleggers rose to power as organized raised as well. As organized crime rose so did the Mafiosas. Throughout the 20th century the mafia has controlled the organized crime scene with an unwavering fist only for its rule to be challenged by other families. The mafia 's bosses give each family its own unique style whether they be a media persona like Al Capone, A brutal killer like Charles Luciano, or completely insane like George Moran.

We may not see this group but the mafia was big back in the day. The mafia was the leading group in criminal activity in the 1960’s(Darity). The mafia was a group that would make tons and tons of money off of drugs, robberies and murders. They would sometimes pay off cops to look the other way and if they didn’t get what they wanted they would use their firearms. With stronger and more enforced laws, many lives could have been saved.

By 1910, the number of italian immigrants rose to 500,000 in New York City. The majority of italian immigrants always followed the laws but there were a few who created powerful gangs and turned to violence to control major bootlegging chains. Mafia bosses were always heavily armed and would have people executed if they were seen as a threat to their power. The evidence provided shows how it was the italian immigrants who created the mafia and how they rose to such great power. Most members of the mafia were officially accepted through an initiation process and once they became a member they were a member for life. The members never spoke about any of the mafia’s actions and always looked out for each other. Mafia members were forced to signed an oath in their own blood that stated that they would always remain silent and never cheat with another members wife. This evidence proves that mafia members were very close and the mafia itself was taken very seriously. The mafia was very powerful as a whole but it took a few chosen gangsters to be in complete control of it

There was also the Italian Mafia. They were recognized by the "Black Hand." The "Black Hand" was a letter with a black hand print on it. The letter would simply ask for money. Every Italian knew that if you refused to pay, it would cost you your life. The only way to be immune to the terrifying "Black Hand" was to be a part of the Mafia.

The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American

The codes can be shown by how one can be as frail as old Carlo Gambino-the last real Godfather, Boss of Bosses-before he died in 1976, but if by a simple yes or no, a nod or shake of the head, or a waggle of a finger one has the power of death over anyone in his organizatoin. The Mafia is made up of thieves, and murderers who are all greedy for money. On the flip side, the Mafia is based on respect. Each member must respect and follow all orders give by a higher ranking member. Although the make up of the Mob is based on respect, members usually kill their way to the top. A Mafia family is headed by a boss who is in charge of everything, he is the one who controls all of the power because in the Mafia the rule of law is the rule of the despot. Each family has an underboss who mediates disputes and advises the boss, as well as a number of captains. Under each captain are soldiers, the lowest official Mafia member. The Italian Mafia is not the only organized crime group around, there are many other ethnic groups the Mafia has to coexist with. Not only is the mob facing new competition from Chinese gangs and Russian immigrants, but it must also contend with the hungrier drug syndicates from Latin America and the Caribbean, whose staggering wealth and firepower make the mob look quaint. Although

La Cosa Nostra Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in American cinema is the closing scene in the film “The Godfather” when Don Vito Corleone’s son Michael takes over his father’s position... and one of the most unforgettable moments, a severed horses’s head lies bloody in a man’s bed. It is this tradition and brutality that characterizes the Mafia, a secret Sicilian society that lives and functions just as much today on American soil as it did and does still in Italy. To understand this organized crime, one must begin to understand how it came to be organized in the first place. During the medieval times in Sicily, Arabs invaded the land and native Sicilians fled and took refuge in the hills. Some of these refugees formed a

THINK THE MAFIA IS GONE? THEN THINK AGAIN.      Exactly what is the Mafia? Mafia, more specifically the Italian-American Mafia, is a group of criminals organized into "families," and operating primarily in North America. Also known as La Cosa Nostra, at one time there were 26 families in the United States - roughly one for each major city. The Mafia composed of bosses of numerous families, mostly New York, was the overseeing authority for all of the other La Cosa Nostra families. New York City is the place of origin for organized crime in the United States. Currently, there are five families in the New York City outfit of the La Cosa Nostra. The five families are, the Gambinos, Genovese, Colombo,