Al Capone Essay -- essays research papers

Al Capone, probably the most notorious and well known gangster in history, was born in 1887 in Naples, Italy. His father, Gabriel Caponi, immigrated to Brooklyn from the slums of Naples in 1910. After he came here he changed his last name too Capone too blend in more. Al Capone’s gang activities started out when he was young. He was in the Five Points Gang, who were known for their violence. The gang’s tradition was to scar their victims with a knife cut from the outside corners of their eyes to their ears. At the time, Johnny Torrio was a major mob boss and his uncle, Jim Colosimo (AKA "Big Jim"), hired Capone as a bouncer. Al Capone was a large man, did his job well, and soon he came to recognition in Torrio’s gang. During his stint as a bouncer, Capone one time made a disrespectful comment to Frank Galluccio’s (a member of the Brooklynite gang) sister. Galluccio pulled out his pocket knife and went for Al’s face. When it was over, Capone had 3 big scars on his face. This earned him the nick name Scar Face. He hated the name, and whoever said it to his face would not live to regret it. After his recovery, he forgave Galluccio and because of this gesture he was hired as a body guard for Torrio at $100 a week. Capone eventually told the public that his scars were old war wounds received in France. Al Capone married Mae Coughlin in 1918 and together they had a son, Albert Francis, and chose Johnny Torrio as his Godfather. Torrio gave his godson $5000 a year. Shortly after, facing possible murder charges, they fled to Chicago. When Colosimo died, Capone became the right hand man of Torrio’s gang. Together, Capone and Torrio expanded the gang’s territories by taking out the their leaders. On one occasion there were Sicilians in the Sicilian Mafia and Al for a dinner in their "honor." After they had finished their lavish meal and drank as much wine as there hearts desired, he killed the unsuspecting visitors. They also tightened there political control over the city. Capone boasted "I own the police." He actually did own the police. This was most prominent during the November elections of 1929 when a lawyer by the name of Frank Lowsch persuaded Capone to have the elections be fair. He asked to have the police arrest any gangsters or hoodlums , and they did. There was not one incident of interventio... ... lavish meal and drank as much wine as there hearts desired, the smile that had been on Capone’s face disappeared and now silence fell over the table and the unsuspecting guests looked up nervously at Capone. Then Capone said "You thought that I didn’t know, huh? Well there is one offense that I never forgive that is disloyalty." Even though Capone was ruthless, he still carried out the old custom of hospitality before execution. With saying that, his bodyguards leaped on the men and started to strangle them. Al came out with a base ball bat in hand. He beat all of them to death and, to make sure they were dead, they also shot them in the back of the head. Something else that surprised me was the competition between the gangs, who could give the most flowers and give the most lavish funerals to the men they killed from the opposite side of town. Al Capone was a very ruthless killer but he still had style, a certain classy air about him. We all know of Al Capone as a gangster but in his time he actually gave to a lot of charities and organizations. Some people thought of him as hero. To the upper class people he was an outlaw but, to the poor people, he was Santa Clause.