The Italian Mob And The Russian Mafia

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

Organized crime has been present in the history of the United States and can be traced back to the streets of the early 1800’s. Organized crime occurs when a group of people congregate together and plan to commit a series of crimes to make money, usually illegally. Organized crime groups have evolved over time from small rackets to grand organizations like the Italian Mafia. Crime particularly began to become prominent in urban areas during the prohibition. Organized crime is still just as visible today as it was back in the early 1800’s.

Throughout time organized crime has had a prolific impact on the United States and the world as a whole. Specifically in the 1930’s when prohibition was in effect and even after it was repealed. Their was one group that stood out in the midst of all the organized crime of the 1930’s. That group is called the Mafia. The Italian based criminal syndicate was one of the most powerful and influential groups when it came to organized crime in the 1930’s. Their numbers were vast and their powerful reputation concerned the national government at the time. Though it is smaller in numbers today, the Mafia had its time of success and power for organized crime in the 1930’s.

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.

We may not see this group but the mafia was big back in the day. The mafia was the leading group in criminal activity in the 1960’s(Darity). The mafia was a group that would make tons and tons of money off of drugs, robberies and murders. They would sometimes pay off cops to look the other way and if they didn’t get what they wanted they would use their firearms. With stronger and more enforced laws, many lives could have been saved.

     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 is multiple crime organizations engaged in smuggling drugs and participating in other criminal activities in the US, Italy, Russia, and elsewhere (dictionary.com).

The decade of the 1920s was full of deception, corruption, and degeneration. The very embodiment of these qualities was the institution of the Italian-American Mafia. The syndicate began in Sicily and spread to encompass United States politics and the national economy. The post war era left the nation in a recession and vulnerable to organized crime. Changes in the country's attitudes and outlooks on the future paved the way for organized crime on a large scale. People were too preoccupied with bootleg booze,

     The Mafia is groups of criminals that developed for the purpose of protecting those who can not go to the police for protection. Its roots can be traced back to Sicily, where the Mafia was based on the premise that any member suffering an injustice was to take personal vengeance while avoiding all

During the early 1900s, specifically the 1920s, organizations involved in sophisticated crime arose and lived on for decades, influencing American progress and culture. These organizations came to be known as the American Mafia, the Italian Mafia, or the Italian Mob. These “families”, as they were called, sprung up in large cities all across the United States. The mob progressed quickly in America, developing from the simplest of crimes to methodical, organized illegal activity. The method of structure and the emphasis of loyalty and secrecy made insiders of the mob very susceptible to exploitation by the local police and federal government agencies, many instances of which were eventually revealed to the public. The mafia, while still around today, fell in prominence and importance in the eyes of the American government and its people. The major time frame of relevance for the American Mafia is about 1920-2001.

The vast amount of wealth caused much dictation over the country and the mafia then came to the United States in 1860. These members owned many businesses, land, homes, and much more wealth (Frank 64.) The mafia has also been named “a second government (Kelly 80.) ” Prohibition was one of the main reasons that mob leaders had gotten widely spread due to the demand of alcohol and casinos.

The Sicilian Mafiosi escaped to the US after being attacked by the fascist regime, bringing with them mob culture (History Wed). The Italian Mafia is a secret society affiliated with organized crime and family ties. In the 1920’s The American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, was active across New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and New England (FBI Web). The Mob rose to power during the Prohibition era

La Cosa Nostra Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in American cinema is the closing scene in the film “The Godfather” when Don Vito Corleone’s son Michael takes over his father’s position... and one of the most unforgettable moments, a severed horses’s head lies bloody in a man’s bed. It is this tradition and brutality that characterizes the Mafia, a secret Sicilian society that lives and functions just as much today on American soil as it did and does still in Italy. To understand this organized crime, one must begin to understand how it came to be organized in the first place. During the medieval times in Sicily, Arabs invaded the land and native Sicilians fled and took refuge in the hills. Some of these refugees formed a

In the early 1900’s Italian immigrant had few job opportunities and were forced into poverty. As most Italians saw the Mafia as an ideal opportunity to make some money for themselves and their families, it's no wonder the numbers of mafia members boomed, however,

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