Mafia+in+the+1920s

Mafia in the 1920s

The mafia, you may call it the worst thing ever, and some call it the best thing ever, but it all narrows down to a great part in American history. During the 1920's was it's biggest rise and when it became famous, all because of the prohibition of course. the prohibition was the ban of alcohol. of course the mafia jump all over the opportunity, so they smuggled it into America and sold it. there were alot of other things that the mafia did but what made them rise to power was the illegal selling of alcohol.

=Important mafia bosses of the 1920's= = =

Al Capone was public enemy number 1 at the time. he worked for Johnny Torrin, who eventually turned the business over to Capone. Capone earned nearly $60 million a year from alcohol by it's self. Capone managed to bribe both important politics and police in Chicago, he spent an average of $75 million a year on bribes.



By the 1920's, Salvatore Luciano was a chief aid for one of the largest crime families in America. He started to despise the old mafia traditions. After being kidnapped and mugged, Luciano discovered that Ginseppe ordered the attack. A couple months later he betrayed Masseria by joining forces with Salvator, Maranzano leader of the second largest family.

=5 important mafia families in America=



There were 5 main Mafia families, the Lucchese family, the Bonanno family,the Gambino family, the Colombo family, and the Genovese family. The Lucchese family was started by Gaeteno Tommy Reina, some of the illegal activities were money laundering, illegal gambling, drag trafficking, extortion, hijacking, and murder for hire. The Bonanno family was founded by Joseph Bonanno, it got kicked out of the commission on the allegation that it was dealing heroin. The Gambina family was named after the family boss, Carto Gambino. the illegal actions they did were money laundering, extortion, drug trafficking, murder for hire, fencing, and pier thefts. The Colombo family was founded by Joseph "the olive oil" profaci. Last but not least, the Genovese family who was also known as the ivy league and Rolls Royce. they were considered to be the most powerfull family.

=Mafia operations=  227 gangsters were killed in a 4 year time frame. 7 members of the O'Banion gang were shot dead by gangsters dressed as cops, this was known as the st. valentines day massacre.

The prohibition helped out the mafia greatly, it made the mafia be able to smuggle it in and sell it for higher prices, the prohibition made the mafia so famous, it was like it's helper.

=Historical Significance=

this topic was significant during the 1920's because that was the time of prohibition and the prohibition helped the mafia make so much money. of course the mafia did other things like murder for hire, and money laundering but them selling massive amounts of alcohol made a big start on the families. The mafia of the 1920's will always be a memory of American history.

=Bibliography= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mafia_during_Prohibition http://the-old-mafia.com/category/1920-mafia-history/