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Al Capone and Organized Crime in the 1920's Essay Example

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Al Capone and Organized Crime in the 1920's Essay Example
Al Capone ran many illegal businesses including bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and murders. There were many gangs in the world of organized crime and Al Capone's was at the top. Al Capone was the most infamous gangster in the 1920's.

Being a highly know and revered gangster was a big business. Money was made fast and very easily. Bootlegging alcohol was by far the most profitable in the 1920's; this was because of the prohibition of alcohol. Gambling was another business that paid off; stations sanctioned for gambling were set up all over cities. Prostitution and murders were also crimes that made gangsters quick and easy money.

Alphonse Capone was the biggest force in organized crime. He started his career of crime in Boston as an apprentice to Johnny Torrio. There he earned the unforgettable nickname "Scarface." It was in a bar when Capone made some rude comments about a woman. Minutes later, the woman's brother sliced Capone in the face.

This man was a friend of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Al Capone was punished and forced to apologize. Al Capone did not become a leader until he went to Chicago. At the time he was still an apprentice to Johnny Torrio.

In the middle of the gang violence and bootlegging was Chicago, the government was very weak which made it easier to do crime. Capone entered the city of Chicago in 1920. At the time, "Big Jim" Colosimo ran things. He made about $50,000 a month. Torrio and Capone started their business with four gambling joints/whore houses in Chicago. These underground places were known as deuces. In Chicago Capone met a man who would be his friend for life, Jack Guzik. Guzik and his family lived off prostitution. After Guzik was roughed up by gangster Joe Howard Capone let his temper flare. It did not his cause when Howard called Capone some foul names. Soon after the verbal altercation Capone shot him in cold blood. There was no conviction and it was becoming more and more clear that Capone was

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