St Valentine's Day Massacre Research Paper

Chicago has the biggest gang problem in the country (Thomas & Bass, 2009). “There are more gang members per citizen in Chicago than anywhere else in the country” (Thomas, 2009, para 4). The average Chicago gang leader is 43, convicted of murder and lives in the suburbs. That leader on many occasions directs his gang from jail (Main, 2006) and 95 percent of inmates in the Cook County Jail are gang members (Thomas, 2009). Gangs are everywhere today just like they use to be. The high number of gangs causes violence and deaths to rise in Chicago.

Valcoast District was home to a large number of gangs. Two of the most dangerous gangs basically controlled the city. The most surprising thing about these two gangs was that they weren't rival gangs. They didn't try to overthrow the other. If a member of one

Capone was said to be involved with many violent crimes, as the same with many of the men who could be classified as organized crime gangsters. With t the lack of evidence and the numerous amount of people that Capone had paid off the police were never able to charge him with any of numerous amounts of crimes. One of the most well known killings that Capone was said to be involved with was the ST. Valentines Day massacre. Capone’s men enter a competitors garage dressed as policemen and killed 6 other gangster. There were few occasions where he was arrested but was released due to lack of evidence. The 1927

With the sun rising on a morning in May of 1636, roughly 500 Pequot men, women, and children lay slaughtered on the ground. This was the outcome of the Mystic Fort Battle. The Puritans in New England thought they were entitled to the land and resources that the Native Americans had. With the smallpox epidemic killing thousands of Native Americans who were not prepared for the disease, the Puritans; especially John Winthrop thought that this was God's way of telling the Puritans that this land was meant for them and not the Native Americans (Edwards).

The definition of a massacre per Dictionary.com is as follows: a deliberately and violently kill of a large number of people. According to Theodore Bliss, people were throwing snow balls at the soldiers, and also saw a stick that looked to be about 3 feet long strike a soldier. One or two snowballs hit the Soldier before the soldier fired (Boston

In Chicago, there was an intense rivalry between gangs growing. Each gang was trying to eliminate

Valentine’s Day Massacre, that took place in 1929. The Massacre started because of two men named Jack McGurn, which was Al’s hitman and “Bugs” Moran. On Valentine's Day McGurn shot and killed seven of Moran's men, but Moran somehow escaped the killings. While nowhere near the Massacre, Al was framed for all of the killing that took place. As the years passed the Supreme Court wanted to prosecute Al for the act and built up a case and found him guilty for 22 counts of income-tax evasion. Not expecting a harsh sentence, he was sent to prison for 11

Chief gangster Al Capone used violence, intimidation, and manipulation to shape the identities of the citizens in Chicago IL.

On July 27, 1919, a young African-American man named Eugene Williams unknowingly swam past an invisible line of segregation at a public beach on Lake Michigan. He was then stoned by white bystanders, knocked unconscious and drowned. The death of Eugene Williams set off one of the deadliest and bloodiest riots Chicago has ever seen. I also believe that the labor conflict was another major reason as to why these riots took place. While there were several other factors that contribute to the Chicago race riot, I believe that these particular events are what sparked all the madness.

When most people here the topic of the Chicago Race Riot they usually do not know a lot of information about it. The Chicago Race Riot was an important part of history for the state of Illinois and America as a country. This paper will discuss the causes of the Chicago Race Riot, violence between Americans, and how is important to Illinois’s history.

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.

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.

By 1925 there were at least 3200 speakeasies and stores who sold liquor in order to get some extra income in New York. The smuggling of alcohol was a very good business that involved money. Some of the direct distilling and home brewing were secretly installed in garages, tenements, and warehouses. With the fear of being hijacked, the bootleggers hired gunmen to protect the goods; so illegal gun market was a side effect of the Prohibition that brought big amounts of money. The illegal alcohol and gun market brought gangs to everywhere, these gangs fought constantly to maintain the territory and respect. Chicago and New York where the cities where the Mafia gain more power, gang wars and assassination became an everyday thing. On May 11th, Jim Colosimo was the first of the Chicago mafia bosses to be assassinated.

Since each community had their own gang, there were several of them. There was the Chinese, Irish, Jewish, and Italian gangs. Each gang had their own style. For example: there was the Dead Rabbits gang. They were known for attacking regular civilians in broad daylight. They got their name by the unforgettable dead rabbits they carried on sticks while beating people up.

For the most part main stream America accepted gangsters. It was a necessary evil to get the alcohol they craved (Bergreen 231). Until that is, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. “ Crime in Chicago has been so psychologically successful, that it takes such a romantically excessive episode as the recent St. Valentine’s Day Massacre to stir the citizens at all “(Bergreen 319). Seven of Bugs Moran’s (a chief rival of Capone) men were slaughtered in warehouse on Clark Street in Chicago. The five killers, two