Mafia In The 1920's In American Society

Local believed they could not trust Spanish law enforcement officials, and so they organized their own protection societies that eventually evolved into the Mafia(“United States History.”). When they immigrated to the United States they banded together of again because of a lack of trust for police, government, and their rights. When organized crime exploded the Mafias saw it as their chance to band together to make a

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

“It was during the troubled years of the 1860s that the Italian kingdom’s ruling class ruling class first heard talk of the mafia in Siciliy” (Dickie, s38, 2004). In this quote we find a potential reason to why the idea that the mafia was born during the making of the modern Italian state has become leading with scholars. Most likely this event shaped the mafia into what it has become because of the political influence that the Italian state bestowed upon Sicily. However, it is not unlikely that the mafia wasn’t already existing in Sicily during this time, and most definitely that criminal gangs of Sicily before this time had traits that were transferred into the mafia as it evolved under the new Italian kingdom. While the mafia is largely

     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,

Prohibition is when the government illegalized the consumption and manufactures of any type of alcohol. By the 1930, many saloons and bars stayed open even after prohibition law was passed because they were selling bootleg liquor behind the government’s back. Professional criminals joined the underground business of selling bootleg liquor making it a well established underground market. Also in the same year, it was estimated that they were at least 10,000 underground speakeasies (illegal liquors and bars). Speakeasies were prominent and famous is because it’s a profitable job.

The Prohibition was the time period in which the 18th amendment was in order. The 18th amendment prohibited the sale, manufacturing, and transportation on intoxicating liquors. Many people were upset with this law but very few people listened to the law. This law caused many problems including bootlegging, organized crime, smuggling, and trafficking of alcohol. With all these problems the law caused more problems than it solved.

“Mafia” was originally the name of an association of Sicilians who collaborated for protection and vigilante law enforcement during the Spanish occupation of the island.” (Nash Para 12). The prohibition of alcohol caused the fear of crime within the nation. Especially the large cities, such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The eighteenth amendment was written prohibiting all uses of alcohol.

Prohibition was a new law that did not allow the sale and manufacturing of any form of alcohol. With this new law, those who loved to drink had

Many found bootlegging to be a source of great finance, most noticeably, those in gangs. These gangs were led by greedy, murderous, power ravenous fiends. In addition to that, they were accompanied by men whose lives were filled with nothing, but greed, lust and gluttony. These “gangsters” devised a wide variety of methods to ensure their bootlegging endeavors would continue to bring them a large profit. This included eliminating “the competition.” And as these gangsters rose to power, the bodies piled high. In the span of 4 years, 227 gangsters, and a rise of the national homicide rate from; 6.06 per 100,00 per year in the 1920’s to 8.09 people per 100,000, per year in the 1920’s. A large number of those deaths were attributed to the gangs

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, America was having a lot of immigrants coming from Europe and Asia, waves of Italians were going to America for a chance to live a better life. Most of the immigrants were law-abiding, but, some criminals were a part of the immigrant's migration to America. These criminals formed neighborhood gangs, often living off from their own communities. This lead to one of most well-known groups of Organized Crime “The Italian-American Mafia”. The word Mafia tends to mean “manly.”

The Mafia way of life may seem like a romantic updated version of the western movie played out on the streets of the big cities where the good guys and the wise guys who share the same instincts and values do battle before an enthralled public but it is actually very different. The Mafia is really just a group of uneducated thugs making money by victimizing the public. Initially, the Mafia was setup as a prominent supplier of bootlegged liquor, but it has spread into many different areas of crime. During this research paper I will discuss three aspects of the Mafia which are crime, structure and decline in leadership.

The American Mafia, commonly known as the mafia, is an Italian-American criminal society. The American Mafia had the greatest impact among any criminal organization on the United States throughout its history. The business aspect, structure, and sense of “family” the mafia lived by were extremely strong and contributed to the success they have had. The shows mafia direct ties to United States Government branches, both on a small and large scale, and in both, good and bad ways. Also, the American Mafia has done reconnaissance work for military branches.

With inflation over time included, Al Capone’s empire would be worth $1.3 billion, Luciano managed to acquire a net worth of $12.5 billion, and Meyer Lansky was thought to have left behind at least $15 million dollars but controlled over $1 billion. With the aforementioned accumulated fortunes, there is no wonder why Americans infatuated with wealth would be equally captivated by the excessive prosperity of mobsters. These substantial numbers exhibit the level of luxury many mobsters experienced. On top of a world of extravagance, mobsters of

Prohibition, the greatest thing that has happened, was what most “dry” people thought. Yes, prohibition did stop a lot of people from consuming alcohol. Prohibition helped turn some “wets”, people who consumed alcohol, into “drys”, which were individuals that did not consume alcohol. Unfortunately, there was a huge downside to prohibition. Throughout the times of prohibition, the rate of gang activity that was involved in daily life rose dramatically due to the desire to obtain alcohol despite the fact that it had been made illegal.

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.