Red Scare After World War I and the Bolshevik Russian Revolution, Communists, people who supports

It was the early 1930’s and it was the biggest crime wave in U.S history. The U.S passed a new law that it was illegal to sell, or drink alcohol. This angered many men and caused chaos in every city of the U.S. But there was a man named Al Capone who broke all these rules. He snuck many alcohol and sold so much, that he became rich out of it.

During the period of prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was made illegal, through the Volstead act of 1919, leading to the first and only time an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. Throughout this time in American history gangsters were common and were constantly increasing in every city but one in particular stood out from all the others making a significant impact on American history. Scarface, Alphonse Capone or more commonly known as Al Capone; who was the most infamous gangster, taking advantage of the era of Prohibition, ran an organized crime association in Chicago during the 1920s. He was responsible for over 500 murders; he had 700 men under his control and earned $60 million a year for bootlegging. Capone, who was glamorised in media and shown as charitable to the helpless was also controlling and violent and became an iconic figure of the successful American gangster who insisted he was just ‘supplying the public demand’.

Every single business was bringing millions of dollars. Bootlegging has made sixty million dollars, twenty five million dollars from gambling, twenty million dollars from other illegal business (Al Capone). Despite all of the illegal business, Capone`s empire did own some legal business, such as dyeing or cleaning companies, and many other little business. He may have done a lot of wrong, but Capone was a philanthropist (Bardsley). Just like Robin Hood, he was stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He donated money for the opera, jazz, shelters for homeless people, soup kitchens, and even after school programs to help the youth of Chicago and keep them out of criminal world (Bardsley). Eighteenth amendment banned all alcohol in the United States and it was known as Prohibition. Many blue-collar workers in US were either alcoholics or enjoyed couple of drinks every night. They needed their drinks, and Capone gave them what they wanted, he said “I make my money by supplying a public demand. If I break the law, my customers who number hundreds of the best people in Chicago are as guilty as I

After World War I, America was having economic difficulties. William Wheeler and Susan Becker said, “The Bolshevik Revolution gave many Americans a convenient scapegoat for their postwar troubles. A few Americans were involved in radical activities, as evidenced by the discovery of numerous mail bombs intended for thirty-six prominent government leaders. Americans, however, identified communist conspirators as the cause of all their postwar difficulties” (Wheeler 233). The accusation of communists against America created the first hatred toward the organization. Americans now believed that communism was not just a factor on the other side of the world. It was now near their homes. The fear of communism was growing larger and larger with each passing day. During the Cold War, the Soviets had created an atomic bomb (Giblin 75). The invention brought the War to new heights with total destruction seeming inevitable. More and more countries were becoming communist, as well. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Eastern Europe and China (“McCarthyism”). China was taken in 1949 by communist rebels (“Joseph McCarthy”). It was feared that communism would spread around the globe, eventually reaching the United States. The tension between democracy and communism was at an all-time

The first red scare was in 1917 after the Bolshevik Russian Revolution . It took the United States by storm. It created a national fear of communists, socialists, and other protesters suddenly grabbed the American psyche in 1919 following a series of anarchist bombings. The nation was griped with fear. In late April 1919, at least 36 dynamite-filled bombs were mailed to a cross-section of prominent politicians and appointees, including the Attorney General of the United States, as well as justice officials, newspaper editors and businessmen, including John D. Rockefeller. Fueled unrest and the anarchist bombings, and then spurred on by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's attempt to suppress radical and non-radical labor organizations,

Why, and to what extent did the thirteen years of prohibition lead to the rise of organized crime in America? From the year 1920 to the year 1933, the United States of America implemented a nationwide constitutional ban. Under this ban, the 'manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States' [source 2] was illegal. Prohibition was brought into effect due to a movement from 'dry' crusaders.

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.

For the people who didn’t take advantage of the loopholes, there were many illegal ways for the citizens of the United States to get there hands on alcohol. Citizens relied on gangsters and mobsters to supply them with alcohol. Gangsters took this opportunity to make a profit off of such a large need in America. One of the more famous gangsters was named Al Capone. He was the mob boss in Chicago. Gangsters like Capone would hire me to smuggle in alcohol from different countries and bring it into America. Others would buy their alcohol in large quantities made in homemade stills. They would then open up secret bars known as speakeasies for people to come and drink and socialize with each other. During this period of time when crime rates shot up, Prohibition Agents were hired to raid speakeasies, find stills, and arrest gangsters. Despite their efforts, most of these agents were not qualified and were underpaid leading to a high rate of bribery.

The first commercial radio broadcast was the results of the Harding-Cox election race on November 2, 1920, Was transmitted by the KDKA radio station. The fact that sound waves could travel through the atmosphere to a location hundreds of miles away must have seemed magical to the people in the 1920s and before. This was a historic event, even though very few people have heard the broadcast at first since not a lot of radios were owned at the time. The radio soon caught the public’s attention and demand skyrocketed for radio receivers. Between 1923 and 1930, sixty percent of American families purchased radios. It then became American tradition where families gathered around a glowing box for night-time entertainment, forever changing our own

Bootlegging is the illegal trafficking of liquor in violation of restrictions set by legislation. People would import liquor from other countries and sell it in America in places called speakeasies. Speakeasies were private bars were the illegal liquor was sold. It became one of the most complex crimes committed during this time. People who were in the bootlegging business created boats that could outrun Coast Guard boats. The Coast Guard caught on to that and created their own speed boats. This caused problems with shipments coming in by sea, and it cost criminals a lot of money. To cut down on cost, Americans began to make their own liquor and sold it to the speakeasies. Speakeasies were raided by cops and federal agents. Groups had to be more organized and have more internal connections in the justice system to not get caught. Eventually, organized groups that could control a whole local chain formed and took over the competition. Many people were killed defending their territory or trying to take from someone else. This resulted in a lot of mass killings and assassinations in the 1920’s. These groups controlled everything from distilleries to transport of the liquor to customers and retail outlets. Over time, these groups began to form monopolies in the distribution of liquor. One of the greatest names in organized crime is Al Capone. He had a “beautiful criminal mind” which allowed him to take over the

Prohibition was the start of organized crime in the United States. Among these criminals was Al Capone. Al Capone came from a well-off family. His father, Gabriele, was an Italian immigrant who moved to New York in 1894 and earned a living as a barber (Al Capone Biography). Al Capone built an operation that made over $100 million a year by running bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operations (Al Capone). Al Capone himself made over $60 million yearly from his illegal operations (Al Capone

The financial benefit of prohibition was great for the Mafia and for street gangs, but “the profit motive caused over four hundred gang related murders a year in Chicago alone" . The increase in gang activity is yet another unexpected negative outcome of prohibition.

Furthermore, the fear of Russia specifically stemmed from the Bolshevik Revolution spreading a fear of communism internationally. The Bolshevik Revolution took place in 1917 and was an overthrowing of the Russian government by the Bolshevik party. The goal of this party was to replace the former government with a fully Proletariat government, meaning for the people (Lazuk). The Bolshevik Revolution was successful and took place in 1917 when the Bolsheviks gained control of Russia and turned the government fully Proletariat. The Bolshevik Revolution began to gain momentum in America this political movement in Russia created The Red Scare. The Red Scare was the immense fear of communism in the United States which resulted in accusations, jail

, thus making them millions of dollars a week. They managed to get away with smuggling and manufacturing illegal alcohol by corrupting government employees. Police, judges, government officials, and even everyday people were bribed, manipulated or bought by different mafias in order to evade the law. The increase in organised crime is developed through the ongoing need for alcohol. An example of the corruption that occurred during prohibition is Al Capone and his crime family. Al capone was based in chicago and managed to avoid getting caught for any of the murders or illegal manufacturing of alcohol he was involved in by owning everyone; this included the mayor of chicago William hale thompson. He was able to offer government officials more money than the government paid them, which meant when he was eventually caught for tax evasion, he owned both the judge and the

During November 1917, an army of peasants had formed, which was described as “a huge crowd of tired, poorly clad, poorly fed, embittered men. The Russians continued to involve similar aspects of the Communist party such as creating an army of peasants, which is mainly what the Communist party consists of. Another example of a demand of the Communist party would be “It follows that if the workers in England or France now liberate themselves, this must set off revolution in all other countries – revolutions which, sooner or later, must accomplish the liberation of their respective working class.” Within this principle of the Communist party, it describes how the workers should band together and start a revolution in order to liberate themselves. In November of 1917, armed factory workers, which were called Red Guards, banned up with rebellious sailors from the Russian navy and attacked the government. Workers from Russia followed the Communists’ instructions to start a revolution in order to be