How Did Prohibition Affect Al Capone's Life

Alcohol use has been a topic of discussion for generations. Some say that it destroys homes, while others say it brings them together. During the mid-1900s, the eighteenth amendment made its use illegal; however, gangsters capitalized on this ruling, making more profit than ever before. An intriguing research on Al Capone and his life shows his major involvement during the Prohibition Era. Prohibition was supposedly crafted regarding the ethical issues of consuming alcohol. Some had fear of its effects on social and physical standpoints (Currie 8). This awareness of negative effects had not been recently conjured. In fact, the issues concerning the drink date all the way back to when the United States had sprung into the world. The people
Under the leadership of Johnny Torrio and Frankie Yale, he began to extort businessmen of their money (Woog 26). Torrio had risen to one of the dominant gang leaders, and Al Capone was his right hand man. Capone had played it subtle at first, by setting up an identity of a furniture dealer. Although, as time progressed, so did his notoriety (Woog 27). It did not take long to progress further for Capone. When his father figure, Torrio, was attacked and severely wounded, his operations fell completely into Capone’s hands (Woog 27). With the new promotion, Capone decided he needed extra protection. He began to ride around in a bulletproof car, and was never alone. Having eight men around him at all times, it was nearly impossible for an assassination to occur. With business being better than ever, he decided to expand into other activities, such as prostitution, labor racketeering, and gambling (Woog 28). This new quest for growth even led into distributing milk, which had a surprisingly large profit (Woog
The IRS stated that Capone made over ten million dollars in the year of 1927 (Woog 30). With thousands of people desiring alcohol, even high officials such as President Harding, the bootlegging market was a very easy racket (Scott). Since so many people had no desire to obey the amendment, it is no surprise that repeal came to be. Every year, more and more states desired to repeal the amendment, and with it came its citizens (Scott). When all was looking well for Capone, something tragic happened: Al Capone had obtained syphilis sometime during the 1920s (Woog 35). It is said that a possible reason for it to grow to such a serious condition was Capone’s fear of needles, for without tests, he had no way of knowing about it until it was too late. The notorious gangster was now degraded almost entirely. His sudden violent outbursts had almost completely masked his reputation (Woog 35). It was not long before Capone was placed under arrest and sent to prison. Elliot Ness, along with the rest of the Untouchables, had convicted him of tax evasion, and placed him in prison for eleven years