Organized Crime During The Roaring 20’s Matt Felgate Austin Collazo

Why did Organized Crime start?  Following WWI, America introduced Prohibition.  With the passage of the 18 th amendment in 1919, the selling, creating, and moving of alcoholic beverages were banned in the U.S. with the intention on improving the quality of American lives.  Ironically, the Prohibition movement created new problems causing an explosive growth in crime

Contributing Factors  Economic depression  Little opportunity for jobs  Many people lived in racially segregated Communities in urban areas  Participation organized crime was dangerous, but was easy money  Public demand for liqour caused bootleggers (producers of illegal liqour) and mobsters to fight over sales of alchohol

Effects of Organized Crime  Arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct increased 41%  Arrests of drunken drivers increased 81%  Thefts and burglaries increased 9%  Homicides, Assault and battery increased 13%  Police funding increased 11.4 million  Arrests for prohibition violations increased 102+ %  Number of federal convicts increased 561%  Federal prison population increased 366%

Al Capone

 As a teen, he was a member of a gang that was controlled by mobster, Johnny Torrio  After being wounded, Torrio could no longer lead the gang, and put Capone in charge  During the time of Prohibition, Al Capone was one of the most successful bootleggers/mobsters around  Capone and his syndicate were responsible for the deaths of more than 800 people between 1924 and 1928  He and his gang made $60 million by selling illegally manufactured liquor  Capone was caught in 1931, and convicted for income-tax evasion

Saint Valentines Day Massacre  The morning of February 14, 1929  several members of the North Side gang Waited for a shipment of bootleg liquor at a garage in the Lincoln Park neighborhood  five men from the Italian gang led by Al Capone Stormed the building Carrying Thompson submachine guns  Ordered the north side gang against a wall, and opened fire, killing all seven of Moran's men  Moran appears to have been the primary target of the ambush but he was at a meeting  when he arrived and saw people dressed in police uniforms entered the building he turned around  Capone was in Florida at the time of the killings, providing him with an alibi

Demographics  Members of organized crime were primarily young males  Recent Immigrants  Most organized crime gangs were Italian, Irish, Jewish, or African American  In Chicago 31% of leaders were Italian, 29% were Irish, 20% were Jewish, and 12% were African American

Location  most of the activity associated with criminal organizations was located in large urban communities throughout the United States  Chicago, Boston, and New York became centralized areas for the illegal markets  Provided large pools for members as well as a large consumer market  Within these urban communities, organized crime gangs were highly segregated from mainstream society

Impact  marked the beginning of many aspects now associated with organized criminal enterprises  Criminal organizations were influential in corporate and political affairs  The public prominence of organized crime began to fade in 1933 with the passing of the Twenty-First Amendment because it undermined their main source of money  these gangs would turn to the illegal drug market as their primary source of revenue

Primary Source Wickersham, George W." Crime and Punishment in America Reference Library. Ed. Richard C. Hanes, et al. Vol. 4: Primary Sources. Detroit: UXL, U.S. History In Context. Web. 11 Apr

Bibliography Works Cited Ciment, James and Leigh Kimmel. "Capone, Al (1899–1947)." Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age. Sharpe Online Reference (2013): N. Pag. Web. 04 Apr Gilliam, Jay. "Organized Crime." The Twenties in America. Ed. Carl Rollyson. Salem Press, Salem History Web. 10 Apr Michael A. Rembis. "Crime, Organized." Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age. Sharpe Online Reference (2013): N. Pag. Web. 04 Apr 2013.