StudyMoose App
24/7 writing help on your phone
Save to my list
Remove from my list
The Roaring Twenties was the decade which started with the celebration of the end of the "Great War" and ended catastrophically with the great "Crash" of Wall Street. That was a period where dramatic changes took place in the United States. "New Morality" appeared that decade, which was more permissive than the previous one. "New Woman" fought for her right that period. In 1920 the 19th Amendment gave them the right to vote. "Jazz music" became popular and "Art Deco" was the new style launched in design and architecture.
"The Car industry" led by the pioneer Henry Ford started producing new and better models with more affordable prices. Larger roads started connecting the major cities. "The Aviation industry" was also evolved during the Roaring Twenties. The commercialization of the Aviation gave the opportunity to the people to travel to remote cities faster, go over the Atlantic and reach the Europe. "Science and Technology" evolved rapidly. Many of the household items we enjoy today like refrigerators, radio, electric irons, toasters, air-conditioners, vacuum cleaners, television developed into viable commercial products in the 1920's.
4.7 (346)
“ This writer never make an mistake for me always deliver long before due date. Am telling you man this writer is absolutely the best. ”
At this period, "The cultural civil war" took place, where many African-Americans came from the southern countryside to the cities and especially to the northern ones. The black culture invaded the lives of the ordinary "white population". A number of vicious crimes took place in many different places of the US against the African-Americans. Likewise, an anticommunist movement known as the "Red Scare" encouraged the hysteria against people coming from the Eastern European and Asian countries Twenties.
"Sports" gained unmatched publicity and promotion included baseball, swimming, football, boxing, golf, and tennis. The publicity of sporting giants was increased by newspapers, radio, magazines, and movies.
Although, gangs existed in the American society by the end of the 19th Century, the scale and the organization of crime made the difference. Some of the factors which
resulted to the development of organized crime are: Urbanization. Too many people were concentrated in small areas, which resulted to the anonymity of big cities and freedom of moral constrains. Immigration. Many people with different cultures were living together. Poverty and discriminations help illegal economy to grow. Communication. New technologies made transportation and communication mush easier. As a result, crime expanded. Prohibition. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the US constitution made illegal "the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquor". Drinking is addictive and it was popular. As a result, the enforcement of that law was very problematic and the perfect setting for organised crime was established. Illegal alcohol was imported from Canada and the Caribbean, or home-brewed spirit was made. In 1920s illegal alcohol could be found in every street. Bootlegging was well established and speakeasies were becoming more popular. The origin of the American gangs of the 1920s is dated back to the eighteenth century with the appearance of mafia at first and the abrupt rise of the Black Hand in the late nineteenth century second. The very seeds of Mafia began to appear in western Sicily where people joined gangs to protect their properties because the government failed to provide them the security they wanted. By the beginning of the 19th century and due to the declined political and economic situation in Italy a massive entry of Italian immigrants accompanied with criminal elements headed to the United States picturing it as the land of opportunities.
The American branch of the Italian Mafia was known as 'La Cosa Nostra'. Gangs were very well organized. They were expanded citywide or even in larger regions. They used organization techniques used by legitimate businesses. Of course, they used different, more violent techniques, for overdue costumers and rivals. They had to protect themselves from other gangs and from law enforcement. Violent attacks between gangs was a common phenomenon. The level of violence was raised. Their preferable gun was the Thompson submachine, called 'Tommy Gun'. They also used knives and bombs. They also adapted a hand grenade, which was known as the pineapple. Anyone how disagreed with the mobster "was taken for a ride", and of course he never came back.
The gangsters were using many common standards, both in their appearance and activities. One of them was their dressing code. The pattern of a man's suit has been basically unchanged since the late 1920s. Gangsters, living a life of women, booze, crime and cars had the money to buy the finest fabrics and hire the best tailors. The basic pattern of the gangster suit was black, navy blue, or white. The typical gangster costume had pinstripes. Brooks Brothers was producing high-quality suits in New York City since 1818. The fabric of the shirt, ideally, was complementing the gangster suit in colour. The tie was matching to the gangster's suit and should 'pop'. They were used to coloured silk ties, with enough heft to create a heavy 'knot.' The suit was matching with high-quality shoes with 'closed-laces". Handkerchiefs, Belts or Suspenders were a must to the total outfit. Handkerchief was always in the jacket pocket. It was the sign of a true gentleman. They wore one every time they were wearing a jacket, regardless of whether they're wearing a tie. Belt was simply faded into the background or they were using suspenders over a dark shirt.
At first, organized crime focus was mainly on gambling and prostitution, the best example for that is Big Jim Colosimo; an Italian rich gangster who collected his wealth from brothels and gambling profits, but after the announcement of the Volstead Act and the prohibition of liquor, the organized crime turned its attention to the
bootlegging activities. The 1920s witnessed a tremendous growth of Organized crime. Criminal minds such as Johnny Torrio, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, created
organized crime in America. They shaped its core to a new extent. Criminal groups were highly organized and in some cases, they seemed untraceable for political institutions, in the same time organized crime leaders sought the help of politicians when they needed it, the gangs knew well how to control the bootlegging activities in their speakeasies which were spread all over New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and with the help of politicians their illegal dealings were guaranteed. It was common for gangsters to fill political positions or even be chosen to a governmental position.
All these illegal activities gave amazing profit. Labor racketing became a common practice to control unions. This way, gangsters' involvement could be considered as legitimate workers and had an income. Sometimes that was a win-win situation, because businessmen could control the competition. Anyone who tried to differentiate was executed by the gangsters.
Of all United States' twenty crime families, New York only contained five, which took the lead of organized crime making it the capital of delinquency and dirty activities in the United States. On the other hand, other cities could barely contain one family. Thus, the Big Apple became the headquarters from which the other cities' crime families were ordered. Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese were the infamous five families of New York that mustered their strength over the years to become the kings and queens of the underworld, therefore, it resulted into an inevitable domination over other Mafia organizations, diminishing their power, some even to nothingness.
For the Cosa Nostra New York was a crown jewel, it helped furnishing the gangs businesses and financial affairs via the sale of different products. They diverted their illegal benefits in hideous secretive ways such as in times of filling up gasoline. They took over the huge commerce in the country's biggest port. Their benefits of construction estimated about a billion-dollar, getting money from every possible domain they could reach and from every man they could blackmail. The five crime families showed no mercy towards those who tried to bar the way of their despicable operations. New York alone could not contain the five crime families' germs; the Sicilian mafia's ideas and traditions soon were transferred into other cities spreading this germ at an unprecedented scale. La Cosa Nostra's greed for narcotics dollars accelerated crime rates, law-enforcement corruption, and the erosion of inner-city neighbourhoods in New York and throughout the United States; it also supported the five crime families within the Big Apple. The Sicilian mafia is considered to be the most dangerous and the most powerful organization in the United States of America, with its 2,500 members it could manage to run its activities as diverse as; drugs dealings, counterfeiting, political corruption, frauds, and other racketeering crimes. The Sicilian mafia crimes swept over everyone who stood on its way even high-ranking officials including; generals, judges, mayors and parliament members could not survive its threats. The Sicilian mafia paved the way to other Italian gangs essentially the Outfit.
As for Italians, they were treated as foreigners and were disenfranchised at first, but when the government announced the prohibition of liquor they seized the moment and started extending their power over Chicago. Italian gangs used to live on the profits of gambling and prostitution it was rare to have any trouble, but with the bootlegging in the field several things changed. Assassins were hired to kill famous gangsters, gangs planned ambushes for each other and murders were just familiar daily events. Italians formed the Outfit gang. The Outfit earned their bad reputation under Giacomo Big Jim Colisimo leadership in the 1920s, but they were feared more under the rein of Johnny Torrio and his partner Al Capone. "Many Chicago policemen worked illegally and in close harmony with criminals and politicians". Policemen were suborned and paid for, and for those who dared to apply justice they ended up facing inevitable death. The Outfit gang was only one example of New York's notorious gangs which later on took Chicago as its main area of illegal activities.
A notorious example was Al Capone, the Chicago gangster. He was ruthless and considered responsible for many violence actions, mostly against other gangsters e.g. the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, where seven rivals were assassin. His saying "A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further" shows how cruel he was. However, the only reason Capone was arrested, in 1931, was for taxation charges.
Mob bosses were very powerful and had influence not only over gangs but also over politicians and law enforcement officials. For example, Arnold Rothstein was financing other criminals, he was resolving conflicts between gangsters and problems between gangsters and the police or politicians. His business was specialized in illegal gambling. The "Great Gatsby" was inspired by him. Some gangsters consider themselves as Robin Hoods. They used charity to achieve acceptance. The image of the gangsters was attractive to young men, and made recruitment easy. They liked expensive cars, which they often customised armour or false floors. The only way a crime organisation could succeed, was to prevent the law enforcement. Bribery was a common way to achieve that. Free entertainment was also offered to politician and the police. Corruption granted immunity from the law. Gangsters were even informed about police raids on their operations. On the other hands, in the early twenties, the Federal Bureau was not effective and local police forces could not do much, since they were lacking of modern tools and training. The Bureau needed an excellent housecleaning. Edgar Hoover was the person who did that. He took over in 1924, when he started organising an effective force. He organized finger prints files, which became vital for law enforcement, worldwide. In 1929, they started to keep criminal records by classifying crimes. They also try to take advantage of new scientific methods, and began to organise scientific crime labs. Through the years they managed to get modernize and more effective. Eliot Ness was a well-known G-Man in Chicago. He needed to fight police corruption. For that, in 1930, he formed a squad of eleven agents, 'The Untouchables'. Their investigations led to the conviction of many gangsters Al Capone.
Description of Events and Heroes: The Roaring Twenties: Gangsters and Feds. (2024, Feb 14). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/description-of-events-and-heroes-the-roaring-twenties-gangsters-and-feds-essay
👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!
Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.
get help with your assignment
