Organized Crime In The United States

Organized crime in the United States pre Nineteen Twenties consisted of gambling, prostitution, and theft. However, crime syndicates not only in the United States but all across the world began to change as prohibition of alcohol spread. In the year Nineteen Seventeen the Volstead Act or National Prohibition Act was passed by congress and later became officially established as the Eighteenth Amendment in Nineteen Nineteen. The Amendment established that after one year of any activity related to alcohol will be illegal and can be prosecuted upon. Furthermore, anyone familiar with micro-economics knows that once the supply of a certain product begins to decrease, become limited, or in the case of prohibition completely stop altogether then said …show more content…
The government demanded that alcohol manufacturers start adding poison to the alcohol to deter the mafia from using industrial alcohol and to deter the public from abusing it that way it could not be sold by any organized crime group. However, the public continued to either brew their own alcohol at home in bathtubs or buy it from a crime organization. Therefore, as organized crime continued the production, transportation, and sale of alcohol across the United States, the federal government responded once again by instructing alcohol manufactures to add even more fatal poisons such as methyl alcohol. Organized crime member’s solution to the governments barricade was to hire chemist that were able to extract the deadly toxins in order for the alcohol to be used. However, several thousands of people died as a result of the poisoning to the alcohol, and the government is often looked down upon for increasing the fatality of the poisons, as seemed obvious that it was neither deterring any organized crime groups or the public …show more content…
Al Capone one of prohibitions most notorious gangsters was an incredible opportunist since his start in organized crime. Al Capone started in the Five Points Gang and eventually found himself working in Chicago under John Torrio, the one who established the building blocks for organized crime in Chicago. Torrio eventually retires after a near death experience, resulting in Al Capone taking his place. With the essentials already in place in Chicago Capone oversees everything that was already in place. However, Capone had essentially the entire police force under his pay roll and no need to worry about law enforcement, resulting in Capone being extremely aggressive and violent towards any competitors. Capone was beloved throughout the city and was seen as a celebrity who could be spotted a sporting events and who made donations to charities. Capones public relations were quintassential to his line of work and resulted in unrestrained amounts or revenue for organized crime. However, once the public saw what happened in the Saint Valentines Day Massacre, they demanded justice. This can be seen as prohibition creating an opportunity that makes those with power too greedy for their own good, as Capone owned Chicago and had the ability to import alcohol from Canada through Lake Michigan or simply brewing it in town. However, Capone’s solution to his feud with the North Side Gang resulted in