Prohibition & Emergence of Organized Crime
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Though surely variations of organized crime have existed in human societies throughout the ages, if in the United States there was a galvanizing moment for organized crime, that moment took place on January 16, 1919. On this day, the states ratified the pivotal 18th Amendment to the Constitution, birthing the Prohibition Era and with it, the modern gangster (Skyminds.net). By 1920, the Volstead Act was in effect, prohibiting the sale of all intoxicating beverages containing in excess of 0.5% alcohol; this law, perhaps unsurprisingly, served only to make alcohol consumption all the more desirable, and the Roaring Twenties soon became the "age of jazz, alcohol and sexual liberation" (Skyminds.net). The presence of organized crime, beginning in 1920, would influence the United States in a myriad of ways and in a host of arenas. The legacy of organized crime extends to this day. The reach of organized crime can appear to be boundless. Peopled with colorful characters living dangerousùyet decadentùlives, the underworld of organized crime would, in cities like Chicago, retain a profile that was palpable, indeed visible, to the entire community. Police forces were infiltrated, intimidated and bought off, merchants were monitored and controlled, and politicians were bribed, manipulated, even appointed by organized crime bosses. The extravagance of the 1920s would become indistinguishable from those underground peddlers and purveyors of illegal indulgences: prostitution,
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e rival, Capone grew increasingly frustrated with Weiss' refusal to cooperate. Two years after Weiss seized control of the North Side, he was gunned down by Capone's machine-gun wielding assassins in front of his office (Kelly 69).
Lesser gang leaders were no less lethal than Capone and Torrio. Men such as Spike O'Donnell and Frank McErlane gained fame (and legend) for their brutality as well as their seeming implacability. Ever eager to expand their territory, power and fortune, murder seemed the easiestùand the most resoundingùmechanism by which to cow their opponents. McErlane, for example, won notoriety for putting a bullet in the temple of a stranger from across a bar in response to a friend's claim that he was a bad shot. O'Donnell, after nearly avoiding death one evening by diving to the sidewalk through a hail of machine-gun fire, watched his assailants speed away and then walked calmly into a bullet-riddled drugstore to ask for a drink of water (Kelly 69-70).
Other areas of Chicago such as Little Italy were also epicenters for organized crime in the mid 1920s; the six Genna brothers ran Little Italy and the West side of Chicago and inevitably clashed with Capone in the South as well as Weiss in the North. Th
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Approximate Word count = 1563
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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