The History of Alcatraz

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…

When we got to the prison, I was surprised to see multiple buildings all around a center courtyard. The inmates were dressed in green or gray and were busy doing various activities. The first thing that really swept me off my feet was when we visited the inmates near the gym in the knitting room. The things they were making required so much talent, which is something I had never considered prisoners to have, mostly because I had never thought about it. I was even more shocked by the talent of the brick layers and the high success rate that is found in the inmates that

Most prisoners go to state or town prisons, but the crazy and really violent ones were taken to Alcatraz. There were no reported escapes of Alcatraz, but many unknown cases of possible escapes where they may have also drowned. The birdman of Alcatraz for example was one of the very crazy prisoners. he was a murderer, but once he went to Alcatraz he studied birds. A lot of people do not know anything about Alcatraz or even what Alcatraz was.

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

Also no women were in the jail, but some lived in the islands apartments, with their father or husband who worked in the jail. Some inmates would go years without seeing a woman or hearing one’s voice. The food and drink provided was on holidays the inmates were served fine meals such as stuffed celery, tom turkey roasted, pumpkin pie, fruit cake, and coffee. The inmates were fed 3 times a day and always had decent food. Most inmates said it was better than other federal prisons. But for drinks, the only fresh water on the island was rain and fog.

For many years people have thought of Alcatraz as one of the most heavily fortified prison in the United States.. Alcatraz was the most feared place by every criminal of the time that Alcatraz was created to the time it closed it’s doors. Many prisoners attempted to escape, but on the record no one ever did. The men sent to Alcatraz were sent there to be broken not to break it. The few brave men who attempted to break out faced harsh punishment or death. It would take a truly intelligent group of men to escape Alcatraz. Only three men were truly that smart to breakout of the most infamous prison in american history.

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

A. Each prisoner received a copy of the Rules and Regulations for the Government… Correctional Institutions as well as a copy of the warden’s special rules that explained the daily routine of work and counts. The inmates were awakened at 6:30am to begin their day. They were required to clean up themselves and their cell and required to shave three times a week.

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.

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 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

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.

A day in the life of a prisoner at Alcatraz is pretty tough. At 6:30 AM the prisoners woke up and tidied up their cells. At 6:45 they went to the mess hall to eat breakfast. Then around 7:25 guards took the inmates to their “jobs” such as, gardening, tailoring, and laundry. They worked until 11:40 which is when the inmates had dinner, the same way as breakfast. After dinner they went back to work and had a break after two hours, then they returned to their cells at 4:45. The final lockup was at 4:50 and lights out at 9:30. A total of 13 official counts was made every 24 hours to make sure that all prisoners were accounted for.

In twenty four hours in the routine they are counted a total of thirteen times (#5). The prison had to check regularly to make sure that they did not lose a prisoner, or that one attempted to escape. In prison a prisoner has four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. While in prison they could earn rights.

A. Each prisoner received a copy of the Rules and Regulations for the Government… Correctional Institutions as well as a copy of the warden’s special rules that explained the daily routine of work and counts. The inmates were awakened at 6:30am to begin their day. They were required to clean up themselves and their cell and required to shave three times a week.