Crime+in+the+1920s

media type="odeo" key="17413203" height="54" width="322" __**Organized Crime of the 20s **__

From the 1920s onward, the Mafia, and organized crime in general, have retained a hold on the popular imagination. Bank robbers, bootleggers, and Mafia dons have received considerable press, not all unfavorable. Cast as anti-heroes, fictional and real-life mobsters like Al Capone, Vito Corleone, and John Gotti have often been portrayed in a sympathetic light. Drawn with a romantic touch, literally and cinematic Mafiosi, in particular, have been depicted as honorable men, in their own fashion. Their luxurious life-styles have enabled them to serve as anti-Horatio Alger exemplars of the American Dream. The Mafia's appeal is often ambivalent, as exemplified by the fate that generally befalls even the greatest of the Dons. Nevertheless, it suggests the subversive potential that popular culture possesses: its ability to provoke, incite, or agitate, while challenging established verities.

[|Wikipedia- Organized Crime] - //David Lee//

There had always been crime in the major cities. However, events in history during the 1920s led to crime becoming more organized. In 1919, the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcohol. Prohibition had begun. Despite the laws forbidding it, consumption of alcohol continued, and bootlegging, or the illegal manufacture of alcohol, became more common. Many criminals, seeing a way to increase their profits, expanded into bootlegging. Crime in America became more organized and men such as Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, John Torrio, and Al Capone became notorious mob bosses.
 * __Bootleggers, Mobsters, and Outlaws__**

[|Bootleggers, Mobsters, and Outlaws] Brett Draper

__** During the twenties Al Capone was a major gang leader. This summary talks about how a lot has been written about him in newspaper and magazine articles, books and movies that was completely false.One of the most common statements that werent true was that he was born in Italy and thats so not true. It also talks about how many Italian immigrants came to the New World to escape the lack of opportunity in the rural Itlay. Gabriele Capone was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. He could read and write in his native langauge and he was a barber by trade. He brought his pregnant wife with him (Teresa), his two-year-old son Vincenzo, and his infant son Raffele. His plans were to do anything he could to open his own barber shop.
 * __Al Capone

[|Al Capone] °Callie Cleckler

After the first World War, the U.S. took on "The Noble Experiment" or Prohibition. Which made the creating, selling, or moving of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. Organized crime escalated, and nortorious names such as Al Capone appeared. People began to try and make their own alcohol they used such things as wood alcohol and medical supplies. This would sometimes cause blindness, paralysis, and even death. People would also try and sell it even though that was illegal. The source of real alcohol was obtained by smuggling it in from Mexico, Canada, and the West Indies. The trade called bootlegging became profitable.
 * __Prohibition Goes into Effect in the United States[[image:http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1089/1088841054_68dbad40fa.jpg?v=0 width="500" height="365"]]__**

[|Prohibition] Alex Henderson