FREE ESSAY ON CAPONE

CAPONE

Alphonse Capone And His Rise To Power 
During the Capone era many mobsters were in power. As Al Capone grew, he began to
associate with many different bosses and was in the neighborhood with many mob run gangs.
After being involved and associated with these gangs, Capone then joined one, which just
so happen to be run by Johnny Torrio, mobster to become leader of the underworld. There
were many influences that helped Capone grow and gain until his rise to power as
Chicago's most notorious mobster.
One of the most common fictions is that like many gangsters of Capone's era, he was born
in Italy. "This is untrue, he wasn't born in Italy but was born in New York"(Bardsley 1).
"Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family (Al 2).
Gabriele Capone, Al Capone's father, was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the United
States in 1894. He was a barber by trade and was one of the few who could read and write
his native language. He was from the villa of Castellmare di Stalia, sixteen miles south
of Naples (Bardsley 3). Capone's mom, Teresina Capone, came to America with her
two-year-old son Vincenzo and infant son Raffaele (historical 1). In 
May of 1906, Gabriele became an American citizen (Bender 26).
Al Capone quit school after the sixth grade and associated with a notorious street gang.
Becoming accepted as a member. Johnny Torrio was the street gang leader and among other
members was the great Lucky Luciano (Al 1). 
As Capone grew, Torrio gave him more responsibility and Capone soon became apprenticed by
him. "On December 18, 1918, Capone married at the age of 19, to a 21 year old Irish girl
names Mae Coughlin. A short time later Albert Francis Capone was born to the couple"
(Bardsley 8). At the same time this was going on, in New York Johnny Torrio moved all of
his operations to Chicago. Torrio's prospects in New York looked dim because Capone was
indicted for two murders. He was released when a witness lost her memory, and evidence
suddenly vanished from the court. Capone knew that he had Torrio to thank for his
fortunes. In 1920, Capone then joined Torrio in Chicago where he had become an influenced
lieutenant in the Colosimo mob (Tyler 1). "He moved his family to a home at 7244 Prarie
Avenue, Chicago" (Bardsley 11). 
Capone was later known as a powerful leader as he stole, murdered, and cheated his way to
the top of the Mob. He believed he could do pretty much all he wanted, which made him
dangerous on the streets. One day came where he earned his nickname of "Scarface". He was
in a bar with his fellow mobsters and leaned over to a girl he'd never met before and
said, "honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment". The girl's brother
was sitting next to her and he punched Capone in the face. Thinking Capone disrespected
his sister he pulled out a knife and cut Capone's face three times before he grabbed his
sister and ran (Bardsley 7). There were many claimed stories about how he received his
name but that was the presumably most believable. Capone later found the man and murdered
him (Jackson 3). Capone was very grateful to Torrio and is quoted as saying: "I looked on
Johnny as my advisor and friend 
and the party that made it possible for me to get my start" (world Crime 604).
A man by the name of "Big Jim" Colosimo was the new under world leader. Johnny Torrio
became jealous of Colosimo and wanted his power. Torrio called upon Capone and "Big Jim"
Colosimo was killed on the night of May 11, 1920 (World Crime 606). The reason for his
death was mostly because the Prohibition Act passed in 1920. The acts forbid alcohol to
be distributed to all the saloons in Chicago. Torrio told Colosimo to start an
underground that could supply all the Saloons with beer and Liquor. Colosimo refused and
soon Capone was to be his executioner.
During this time Al Capone actually became a hero to some bar hoppers. Some say that he
was cheered at a baseball game in Chicago's Rigley Field, while President Herbert Hoover
was booed (World Crime 607). Capone's street mob began to grow and soon was in its prime.
His street mob had of over 1,000 members and half of Chicago's police forces. Capone's
payroll at the time consisted of police officers, alderman, states attorneys, mayors,
legislators, governors, and even congressman (world crimes 608).
Two men by the names of John Scalise and Albert Anselsni were planning to murder Capone.
Capone somehow found out and invited them over for a banquet in their honor, when he
really had his own plans for them. When the banquet got to its climax of the evening,
Capone invited them in his office for a private meeting, he then tied them to their
chairs and smashed there heads in with hammers (Cook 1). 
Later on in his life, while he was still in his prime, Capone was to be arrested for tax
invasion. A man by the name of Eddie O'Hare, one of the best under cover men hired by the
IRS, was searching through Capone's files determined to get him in jail and off the
streets. Finally, O'Hare found that Capone had never paid any type of income tax and the
federal government put him on trial. After a long court sentence Capone was given the
maximum sentence, which was a 50,000-dollar fine, court costs of 30,000 dollars, and
eleven years in jail. He was sentenced in an Atlanta prison. In 1934, he was transferred
to "The Rock" otherwise known as Alcatraz. Later that year, Capone was judged insane and
was released to his family. During this same period of time, gunmen in Chicago sought out
Edward J. O'Hare and shot him to death in his car (world crimes 616).
In January 1947 Capone had a massive brain hemorrhage in Florida and died. His body was
removed from his estate in Florida and transferred back to the Chicago, where he had
lived most of his life and achieved the title of "The most Notorious Mobster".
"Immediately upon arrival to Chicago by train, the corpse of the dead crime czar was met
by guards who escorted it to Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Even in death, Capone commanded gunmen
to protect him against unseen enemies, in this case ghouls" (world Crime 617). The
families held a private ceremony at the cemetery, but were wary of grave robbers taking
the corpse, so they reburied Alphonse Capone in a seaside lot in Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Alphonse Capone truly was the most vicious mobster and killer of the century. He killed
his way to the top of the Mob from a young boy to an old man and is still today
influential to other mobsters. The crime syndicate will always remember him.
Bibliography
Work Cited
"Al Capone"
http://www.fbi.gov/yourfbi/history/fancases/capone/capone.htm
Bardsley, Marilyn. The Crime library. Al Capone
Wysiwy://62http://www.crimelibrary.com/capone.capone/caponemain.htm
Bender, David. Gangs. Sandigo, CA: Gren Havn Press, inc., 1997
Cook, Fred J. Mob Inc. New York, NY Motta press, Inc., 1997.
Cox. Bill G. et. al. Crimes of the 20th Century. Lincoln, Illinois. Publications
international, 1991
Jackson, Robert. True Crimes. New York, NY: Smith Mark Publishers, 1992
Tyler, Gus. Organized Crime in America. Binghamton, NY: the University of Michigan Press
and Simultaneous, 1962
Historical Society 1998, Al Capone.
Http://wwwchigts.org/history/capone/cpn1.html
World Crime Encyclopedia. Chicago, IL: International Printing, vol. 11, 1997