St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Taylor O’Connell
Samuel Period 7
January 2, 2013
February 14th is known as the day for love and happiness, except in the year of 1929 when a Chicago mobster, Alfonso “Al” Capone, also known as Scarface, and his gang shot and killed six men from George “Bugs” Moran’s gang, along with an innocent bystander. This event is referred to as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Al Capone was born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended school up through the sixth grade when he decided to pursue a different lifestyle. His nickname “Scarface” was due to a knife attack that left three scars across his cheek. In the 1920’s, Capone joined the James Street gang, which was controlled by Johnny Torrio. Capone was then asked by Torrio to go to Chicago and work for his uncle, Big Jim Colosimo. Colosimo was head of the city's largest prostitution and gambling business. When prohibition began later that year, Torrio started looking into bootlegging (the sale of illegal alcohol) to bring in more money but Colosimo wanted nothing to do with the unlawful and possibly unsafe doings. Capone then became head leader of Torrio’s gang and became enemies with George Moran, who was another gang leader.
George “Bugs” Moran was born in the year 1893 in Minnesota. He was childhood friends with Dion O'Bannion and later became his right hand man in his business of bootlegging. Later when O’Bannion died, Moran and Earl “Hymie” Weiss inherited his gang in Chicago in 1924. After Weiss was killed in 1926, Moran became sole leader of the North Side gang.
By 1929, Capone and Moran had been enemies for over three years. Chicago was split into their two gangs. They were both in the same business where they competed for power, prestige, and money; plus, both men had previously tried to kill each other. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was a gang shooting in Chicago, where Al Capone’s gang attacked George Moran’s gang, but neither of the
Taylor O’Connell
Samuel Period 7
January 2, 2013
February 14th is known as the day for love and happiness, except in the year of 1929 when a Chicago mobster, Alfonso “Al” Capone, also known as Scarface, and his gang shot and killed six men from George “Bugs” Moran’s gang, along with an innocent bystander. This event is referred to as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Al Capone was born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended school up through the sixth grade when he decided to pursue a different lifestyle. His nickname “Scarface” was due to a knife attack that left three scars across his cheek. In the 1920’s, Capone joined the James Street gang, which was controlled by Johnny Torrio. Capone was then asked by Torrio to go to Chicago and work for his uncle, Big Jim Colosimo. Colosimo was head of the city's largest prostitution and gambling business. When prohibition began later that year, Torrio started looking into bootlegging (the sale of illegal alcohol) to bring in more money but Colosimo wanted nothing to do with the unlawful and possibly unsafe doings. Capone then became head leader of Torrio’s gang and became enemies with George Moran, who was another gang leader.
George “Bugs” Moran was born in the year 1893 in Minnesota. He was childhood friends with Dion O'Bannion and later became his right hand man in his business of bootlegging. Later when O’Bannion died, Moran and Earl “Hymie” Weiss inherited his gang in Chicago in 1924. After Weiss was killed in 1926, Moran became sole leader of the North Side gang.
By 1929, Capone and Moran had been enemies for over three years. Chicago was split into their two gangs. They were both in the same business where they competed for power, prestige, and money; plus, both men had previously tried to kill each other. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was a gang shooting in Chicago, where Al Capone’s gang attacked George Moran’s gang, but neither of the