Al Capone
Al Capone was a crime boss and his success flourished in the 1920s. He owned towns, and almost owned the nation. Throughout the years, he has been a subject of many art forms such as movies and books. Even though he was responsible for many violent murders, Capone was still a celebrity during the 1920s. Capone caused the people that knew him to shrink in fear, while still making America awe at him. When Prohibition was put into place, people like Capone stepped in and took advantage of people’s addiction to alcohol. He profited greatly, making millions every year during his life of crime. Al Capone’s hunger for power led him to commit heinous crimes and these same crimes built him a lasting legacy by changing organized crime …show more content…
When Capone’s family moved to Chicago, he became associated with a famous gang leader named John Torrio. Torrio believed in using diplomacy with crime which was a factor that Capone looked up to. A little while later, Capone became involved in the scandal that would be known as the Flower Shop Murder. This was the killing of a rival gang leader under the name of O’Bannion in his own flower shop. As Laurie Dimaurio shows, after this attack, there would be several retaliation attacks against Torrio. This led Torrio to flee the country for his life and he left his gang to Capone (426). “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” states that, with all of this new power, many wanted to take him down, such as the Moran gang that controlled the north side of Chicago. Moran killed two of Capone’s men, hoping that it would weaken him; instead “the broad daylight murders were a threat to Capone’s toughness and would not go unavenged” (124). This caused him to commit a deadly mass killing that would be forever known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Occurring on February 14, 1929 Capone used some of his thugs that were dressed up as police officers to arrest seven of Moran’s men. Moran’s men, thinking that this was a normal raid, obliged and willingly gave up their weapons. They were lined up in front of the wall and shot dead with machine guns. On …show more content…
He wanted all of the power that he could get, so he did awful things that will make him remembered forever. People were fascinated with his story, and author Jay Robert Nash phrased Capone’s life as, “rags to riches to jail” (qtd. in Dimaurio 425). He started out as a normal child growing up in Brooklyn, New York until he changed into Scarface. Capone then committed many murders to further grow his many criminal industries that he controlled, such as prostitution and bootlegging. He ruled the 1920s in the United States while making millions of dollars yearly, which continued until his downfall. Capone became a notorious figure doing whatever it took to reach and grow his
Al Capone was a crime boss and his success flourished in the 1920s. He owned towns, and almost owned the nation. Throughout the years, he has been a subject of many art forms such as movies and books. Even though he was responsible for many violent murders, Capone was still a celebrity during the 1920s. Capone caused the people that knew him to shrink in fear, while still making America awe at him. When Prohibition was put into place, people like Capone stepped in and took advantage of people’s addiction to alcohol. He profited greatly, making millions every year during his life of crime. Al Capone’s hunger for power led him to commit heinous crimes and these same crimes built him a lasting legacy by changing organized crime …show more content…
When Capone’s family moved to Chicago, he became associated with a famous gang leader named John Torrio. Torrio believed in using diplomacy with crime which was a factor that Capone looked up to. A little while later, Capone became involved in the scandal that would be known as the Flower Shop Murder. This was the killing of a rival gang leader under the name of O’Bannion in his own flower shop. As Laurie Dimaurio shows, after this attack, there would be several retaliation attacks against Torrio. This led Torrio to flee the country for his life and he left his gang to Capone (426). “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” states that, with all of this new power, many wanted to take him down, such as the Moran gang that controlled the north side of Chicago. Moran killed two of Capone’s men, hoping that it would weaken him; instead “the broad daylight murders were a threat to Capone’s toughness and would not go unavenged” (124). This caused him to commit a deadly mass killing that would be forever known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Occurring on February 14, 1929 Capone used some of his thugs that were dressed up as police officers to arrest seven of Moran’s men. Moran’s men, thinking that this was a normal raid, obliged and willingly gave up their weapons. They were lined up in front of the wall and shot dead with machine guns. On …show more content…
He wanted all of the power that he could get, so he did awful things that will make him remembered forever. People were fascinated with his story, and author Jay Robert Nash phrased Capone’s life as, “rags to riches to jail” (qtd. in Dimaurio 425). He started out as a normal child growing up in Brooklyn, New York until he changed into Scarface. Capone then committed many murders to further grow his many criminal industries that he controlled, such as prostitution and bootlegging. He ruled the 1920s in the United States while making millions of dollars yearly, which continued until his downfall. Capone became a notorious figure doing whatever it took to reach and grow his