The History of 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.

Have you ever wondered what the history of alcatraz is? Have you ever thought about the escapers from alcatraz? Some people think of Alcatraz as it was built to be an attraction. It’s real intention was to be a maximum security prison. The history made this one of the most known places in the world.

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.

Altogether, Alcatraz Penitentiary was a pretty tough prison to escape, and maybe that is why the government placed the worse criminals there. Out of thirty-six men who attempted to escape, only three went without being captured.

Alcatraz housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous criminals. Infamous criminals there were, Al “Scarface” Capone (spent four-and-a-half years in prison), George “Machine Gun” Kelly (spent 17 years in prison), Gangster Alvin “Creepy Karpis” Karpowicz (spent 25 years in prison, longest time out of all the prisoners). None of which escaped, but had committed terrible crimes. Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz because in another place he was still able to keep in touch with with the ‘outside world’ and continue running his criminal operation in Chicago, he also was known for corrupting prison officers. But that all ended once he was in Alcatraz.

Prior to visiting the prison, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was nervous but also excited to see how everything operated. I had never been to a jail or a prison prior to this field trip. I was expecting to see one big building surrounded by high fences and coiled barbed wire. Once inside, I was expecting to see people dressed in orange doing various activities, much like in movies and television shows, even though I knew these weren’t true.

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

Thesis: Alcatraz has been a popular social topic because of the mystery that surrounds it and the stories exaggerated in movies and television shows.

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

Soon after undergoing procedures they found out people where going insane and even taking their own lives. These customs of confinement where retired for a long time until about the 1920’s when they made a comeback at Alcatraz off the San Francisco Bay. The jail is known for housing some of the most notorious prisoners in the country and they wanted to keep the upper hand and not have anything go wrong. They created a whole prison block called D-Block which housed dozens of prisoners in confinement.If you were to break any rules while in confinement you would get sent to the “hole” which was worse than solitary confinement because you would not receive any clothes or any food other than bread and water. (http://www.alcatraz101.com) Robert Stroud was one one of the prisoners at Alcatraz in his lifetime he served 42 years in solitary confinement. While in another jail he was confined and found a group of birds which he housed later on in his years in jail he publish a couple books one called Diseases of Canaries. He was a very intelligent man with an IQ of 134 but while being looked up he was later diagnosed a psychopath.(Robert Stroud/wikipedia.org) Many prisoners go into solitary confinement perfectly fine and come out different due to the lack of human

Alcatraz island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a federal prison. It was used to house civil war prisoners because of its isolation from the cold, strong, and hazardous currents of the waters of the San Francisco Bay. The occupation of alcatraz from November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1971 impacted america socially, economically, and politically for the following reasons: it forced citizens of america to acknowledge the unfair treatment of the american indians, when America “bought” Alcatraz from the native Americans, they were treated so poorly and were barley paid at all…

Alcatraz was the most secure prison on the planet. The walls, ceiling, and floor were made of concrete, and the prison gates were made of some of the strongest steel available. The island was given the nickname “The Rock” because of all the structures were made out of concrete. The island didn’t need a fence around it as it was surrounded by the icy currents of the San Francisco

Thesis: Alcatraz has been a popular social topic because of the mystery that surrounds it and the stories exaggerated in movies and television shows.

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