What Is The Rise Of Organized Crime In The 1920s

The roaring twenties was a time of the Model T Ford, a new era of fashion, jazz, new inventions, prohibition, and a rise in criminal activity. The enforcement of the eighteenth amendment and the Volstead Act led many American citizens to turn to bootlegging, especially the gangsters. The well-known Al “Scarface” Capone was the leader of a gang in Chicago and known as an enemy to the American government. Shootouts and assassinations were not uncommon during this period, and in fact, cases of such criminal activity on the North Side were on the rise. Known as the most infamous gangster killing of the 1920’s, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, was the beginning of the end of Al Capone and gangsters’ bootlegging operations. Prohibition came into
On February 13, 1929, Moran received a phone call concerning a supply of whiskey at a bargain price, and he requested that it be delivered to his warehouse (FEB 14 1929 2). The next day, Moran’s gangsters gathered at his garage at 2122 North Clark Street awaiting the arrival of Moran, Newbury, and Marks, along with their shipment. The seven men who waited patiently, Johny May, the Gusenberg brothers- Frank and Peter, James Clark, Adam Heyer, Albert Weinshank, and Reinhardt H. Schwimmer, never expected what occurred next (Boyle 3). Four men, two dressed as police officers, arrived outside Moran’s garage, entered the building. The imposters lined the men up against a wall using two twelve-gauge shot guns and two Tommys, and slayed every man inside (Eig 189). The murderers then fled the garage in a manner that looked as if police were at the scene arresting two men who seemed to have caused the chaos and sped away in a black Cadillac (Streissguth 2). Disregarding the fact that it appeared the police had the situation under control, May’s dog howled continuously, and a bystander was sent to investigate the scene only to find six men dead and one barely breathing, Frank Gusenburg, whom “obeyed the gangster code of silence and refused to say who shot him” and only released the statement, “Cops did it” (Boyle 3). The police were called to investigate further and were alarmed
It was said that Capone and the leader of Detroit’s Purple Gang created a plan to eliminate Moran with a simple call concerning a bootlegging operation that was fairly priced in the hopes of him requesting to receive the shipment. Upon arrival of the “shipment,” Moran would be eliminated (Boyle 2). This theory appeared to have been a possibility, and the police even found records proving that a phone call was made before the shooting. What the theory failed to do was explain why so many men had gathered, and why they had not fought back after the intrusion (Eig 199). Investigators went through many theories attempting to uncover all the answers. Theory Number One: The cops, according to Gusenberg, were the real suspects. This suspicion could have held true if the police had been deceived by Moran’s men and hoped for revenge, but coming to a mutual agreement, this theory was denied on the basis that the men dressed as cops were in fact, imposters. Also, if the police had been responsible, it was not understood why the cops did not simply arrest the men and eliminate them in custody (201). Theory Number Two: The Purple Gang sought to get even with Moran’s men after the expensive seize of whiskey. To support this theory, witnesses had identified three members of The Purple Gang who had taken shelter nearby perhaps to keep an