The Italian-American Mafia During The Late 19th Century

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

When talking about the American Mafia, mostly it’s referring to the Italians and their influence. During the height of the Mafia its influence on society was massive and mostly in a negative way. In pop culture, the Mafia represented violence, gang affiliations, and criminals. Although, in the perspective of our generation today some view them as heroes. The reason for this is mostly from the rise of hip-hop in society and how people view it.

The Mafia was first developed in Sicily in feudal times to protect the estates of landlords who were out of town. The word Mafia, derived from the Sicilian word, Mafioso, means family. Today, Mafia is a name which describes a loose association of criminal groups. These groups can be bound together by blood, oath or sworn secrecy. Many people had considered the Sicilian Mafia as the most ruthless mobsters of the twentieth century.

“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,

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.

Before the Mafia came to America, they ruled the boot shaped country of the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian Mafia was creating so much havoc, destruction, and corruption in Italy. The Italian Mafia costed the Italian government well over sixty billion dollars annually in wasted public resources and effectively combating corruption to try to prevent the Italian Mafia from taking over the country completely. That's when they came to America.

The American underworld reared its head for the first time in the late nineteenth century. Since this time new waves of immigrants to the United States, primarily Italian, have facilitated in the rise of organized crime in America. Italian mafia members treated the workings in America as an extension of the Sicilian mafia rather than a new organization. The immigration of the Lucania family from Italy to the United States would be the cause of one of the most drastic changes in the workings of organized crime. Charles Luciano became the father of the modern American mafia.

Carlo Gambino, the man who is the family namesake, never served a day of jailtime in his life. He liked to keep low key, but many things are attributed to this family. Murder Inc., an infamous group of talented, for-hire hitmen, was started by Albert Anastasia, member of the Gambino family. While this was well publicized and talked about, perhaps the most publicized and talked about Mafia happening recently was the John Gotti case. John Gotti, Don of the Gambino family, was “ratted out” but one of his underlings, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Sammy, in return for this favor to the police, served only five years in jail for twenty murders. However, this offense, breaking the “Omerta” is one of the worst possible things any member of the Mafia could ever do. As Michael Corleone says to his wife Kay, “Don’t ask me about my business, Kay.” (Godfather) Everyone in the Mafia must learn many, many rules and live by all of them. Of most importance is Omerta, as stated before, but many guidelines are set for way of life as well. Members cannot show signs of weaknesses. Crying and wearing glasses are two such things. Also, women are looked upon as inferior and a couple that is unable to produce sons is frowned upon. Since power is very influential in how this business is run, members must know their place because “someone always wants more, that’s how wars start.” (Anonymous) Making reference to the movie “The Godfather” is

The term “Mafia phenomenon” delineates the significance of the indefinite number of networks within US society, advocating particular values and conventions cultivated by the Italian “mafiositá”. “La Cosa Nostra”, the phrase etymologised by America meaning “Our concern” is an organisation with it’s roots in the Sicilian Mafia. The organisation rose to prominence in the beginning of the nineteenth century by conducting a large scale immigration to the United States, particularly to the cities of New York and Chicago. The Mafia and the idea’s from the Sicilian Mafia they brought with them became the impetus of change from the 1920’s to 1960’s in American Society.

The Italian Mafia was originally founded on a sense of loyalty and respect for culture, family and the Sicilian heritage. The Mafia was meant to protect its members interests while granting them freedom in exchange for absolute loyalty and submission to the family. The Sicilian Mafia was based on the belief that justice, honor, and vengeance are for a man to take care of, not for a government to take control of. The Sicilian mafia followed a code called"om erta”, which was a code of honor, silence and strictly adhered to the ruling that this was a secret society, open only to those who had Sicilian blood. In contrast to the humble beginnings of the Sicilian mafia, the American mafia has proved to be a conniving, cold hearted organization.

The Sicilian Cosa Nostra , is a companionship of organized-crime chemical group based in Italia and America, evolved over centuries in Sicily , an island ruled until the mid-19th one C by a long air of descent of foreign invader . Sicilian arrest ’s together in chemical group to protect themselves and carry out their own justness . In Sicily, the term “mafioso,” or Mafia member, initially had no criminal connotations and was used to refer to a person who was suspicious of central authority.

The Italian Mafia in the U.S. can trace its origins all the way back to the Sicilian Mafia which was founded in Sicily during the 1800’s (Italian Organized Crime). After thousands of years of different armies with different nationalities conquering Italy and exploiting its people, the Sicilians became to be more clannish and family focused. Originally they were just resistance fighters that were protecting their friends and family. They were relied on for protection, justice, and survival. Nobody cared if they got money from it because it came from the oppressive authorities. Members of these groups were known as “Men of Honor” and they were well respected and even admired because they looked out for their family and kept silent sometimes even unto death. They didn’t become an organized crime group until the 1920’s however (Italian Organized Crime). It was around this same time that the US began to see what later became La Cosa Nostra or “our thing,” better known as the American Mafia which was aided by the “thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi” who came to the United States illegally (Italian Organized Crime). The modern American Mafia is credited to Charles “Lucky” Luciano who came over in the 1920’s (Italian Organized Crime). Luciano structured La Cosa Nostra just like their Sicilian

The word Mafia itself has many meanings. In Arabic it means "refuge", which refers to the origins of the Mafia as a society that fled to the hills of Italy to avoid attack. Some Italians hold it as a word of high respect implying strength, courage, agility, quickness, endurance, and

The American Mafia, an Italian-American sorted out wrongdoing system with operations in urban communities over the United States, especially New York and Chicago, rose to control through its accomplishment in the illegal alcohol exchange amid the 1920s Prohibition period. After Prohibition, the Mafia moved into other criminal endeavors, from medication trafficking to illicit betting, while additionally invading worker 's parties and honest to goodness organizations, for example, development and New York 's article of clothing industry. The