Term Paper1

Throughout American history, the US has come across various kinds of people. One kind the US came across are gangsters. American gangsters were involved in many kinds of criminal activities. For example, robbery, extortion, murder, bribery, etc. Some of these American gangsters include George "Bugs" Moran, Queenie and Bumpy, Al Capone, and Frank Lucas. These people impacted the criminal, gangster life in many ways.
George "Bugs" Moran was the only one left of the great North Side gang leaders, a violent city dynasty that started with the rise of Dean O'Banion in 1920. Moran was a powerful gang leader who's days were numbered, even after he wasn't killed in the February 1929 bloodbath that was meant for him. Moran started his criminal career in September 1910 with horse thievery. 19 years later he progressed to bootlegging, cleaning and dyeing unions, and dog racing. Moran wasn't cerebral, he was more street-smart in the style of thoughs rough and tumble brawlers who relied on their instincts alone. He had battle scars, such as a 4" knife scar along the right side of his neck and a crooked middle finger from a badly knit broken bone. Moran lived longer than Dean O'Banion, Hymie Weiss, and Al Capone. He died later in life from lung cancer due to cigarettes, after serving time in both Ohio State and Leavenworth prisons on bank robbery charges.
Stephanie St. Clair immigrated from Marseilles, France to America in 1912 as a black French women from Martinique. St. Clair opened up a numbers bank in Harlem in 1922, with $10,000 of her own money. The people of Harlem called her respectfully Madame St. Clair, but throughout Manhattan she was known as "Queenie". She was a tough, tall, and abrasive women with a side of gentleness who ran The Forty Thieves, the famous New York extortion gang. The Forty Thieves held a reputation of being tough, with this not even white gangsters wouldn't interfere with their illegal operations or attempt to take over their turf. Well-known gang gives credit to Queenie for her persuasive powers and leadership leaders. It wasn't long before she spun off the gang and went out on her own. She used her experien and talents to set up operations as a policy banker. To do this, she recruited some of Harlem's blacks to support her and her operation. In one year she was worth more than $500,000 with more than 40 runners and 10 controllers in her charge.
Ellsworth Raymond Johnson from Charleston, S.C. was one of Queenie's main recruits. He moved to Harlem as a child with his parents and was given the nickname "Bumpy" because of a large bump on the back of his head. He was the kind of gangster who made a priority of wearing the latest and best clothes and to flash alot of money wherever he went. Bumpy possessed a recalcitrant attitude while being a pimp, burglar, and stickup man. He was never hesitant to use a knife or gun and he carried both at all times. Bumpy never backed down from any confrontation nor anyone. It was because of this mentality that he spent most of his life, before the age of 30 in and out of prisons. While incarcerated he became a great reader and began writing poetry. He was shifted from prison to prison until he was released in 1932 because of his attitude.
Bumpy Johnson had a soft side, despite his tough-guy reputation. He would commonly help Harlem's poor by donating secret cash and gifts. Queenie St. Clair offered him a position as henchman in her numbers racket because she liked what she saw in Bumpy. Bumpy was always looking for better opportunities to make more money, so he joined Queenie's ranks and quickly gained her trust. To confront the Bub Hewlett gang was one of his first tasks. This erupted into one of Harlem's most violent and bloody gang wars. Temporarily saving the numbers game from the Mob's first takeover attempt, Bumpy gained the edge and defeated Hewlett.
During the 1920's Prohibition era, Al Capone was America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States. Capone played a main part in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city. In Brooklyn, New York on January 17, 1899 Al Capone was born. He was baptized Alphonsus Capone. He was a member of two "kid gangs", the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors, growing up in a rough a neighborhood. At the age of fourteen Capone dropped out of school in the six grade, although he was bright. Some of his scams involved him being a clerk in a candy store, a pinboy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a book bindery. Capone eventually became a member of Manhattan's notorious Five Points gang and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. Capone received his infamous facial scars and the resulting nickname "Scarface" when he insulted a patron and was attacked by her brother, while working at the Inn.
At a dance in 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis. On December 30, 1918 Capone and Mae got married.
While he was working for Yale, Capone got arrested for the first time on a disorderly conduct charge. He also murdered two men while in New York. Capone was a feared man and because of this no one admitted to hearing or seeing a thing so Capone was never tried for the murders. Yale sent Capone to Chicago, after hospitalizing a rival gang member, to wait until things cooled off. In 1919 Capone arrived in Chicago and moved his family into a house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue. Capone went to work for John Torrio, Yale's old mentor. Capone's potential, his combination of physical strength and intelligence was all seen by Torrio. Torrio encouraged Capone's protege. Soon Capone was helping Torrio manage his bootlegging business. Capone became a full partner in the saloons, gambling houses, and brothels, he also ranked as Torrio's number two man, all by mid-1922.
Capone inherited the "outfit" and became boss, when Torrio was shot by rival gang members and consequently decided to leave Chicago. The outfit's men called Capone "The Big Fellow" because they liked, trusted, and obeyed him. Syndicating and expanding the city's vice industry between 1925 and 1930, he quickly proved that he was even better at organization than Torrio. Speakeasies, bookie joints, gambling houses, brothels, horse and race tracks, nightclubs, distilleries and breweries were all owned by Capone. With these revenues, Capone reported a income of $100,000,000 a year. The largest cleaning and dyeing plant chain Chicago was even acquired by Capone. According to the Chicago mayor William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson Jr. Capone was bad for his political image, although he was corrupt and had been doing business with Capone. To run Capone out of Chicago, Thompson hired a new police chief. Capone discovered that he was unpopular in much of the country as he was looking for a new place to live. He finally bought an estate at 93 Palm Island, Florida in 1928.
Attempts on Capone's life were never successful. So that any plots were quickly discovered, Capone had an extensive spy network in Chicago, from newspaper boys to policemen. On the other hand, Capone was skillful at isolating and killing his enemies when they became to powerful. Men renting an apartment across the street from the victim's residence and gunning him down when he stepped outside was a typical Capone murder. The operations were quick and complete and Capone always had an alibi. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was Capone's most notorious killing. Four Capone men entered a garage at 2122 N. Clark Street on February 14, 1929. This was the address to the main liqour headquarters of bootlegger George "Bugs" Moran's North Side gang. The seven men in the garage thought it was a police raid because two of Capone's men were dressed as police. They dropped their guns and put their hands against the wall, as a result. The Capone men fired more than 150 bullets into the victims using two shotguns and two machine guns. Six out of the seven killed were members of Moran's gang and the seventh was an unlucky friend. The real target, Moran was across the street when Capone's men arrived and stayed away when he saw the police uniforms. Capone was in Florida during the massacre because as usual he had an alibi.
Capone often treated people fairly and generously, even though he ordered dozens of deaths and even killed with his own hands. He was equally known for his violent temper and for his strong sense of loyalty and honor. After the 1929 stock market crash, he was the first to open soup kitchens and he ordered merchants to give clothes and food to the needy at his expense.
The Four Deuces at 2222 S. Wabash, the Metropole Hotel at 2300 S. Michigan Avenue, and the Lexington Hotel at 2135 S. Michigan Avenue, were all Capone's headquarters in Chicago. Using terror as in Forest View, which became known as "Caponeville", he expanded into the suburbs. As in Cicero he sometimes bribed public officials and police. At Cicero's Anton Hotel at 4835 W. 22nd Street and in the Hawthorne Hotel at 4823 22nd Street, Capone established suburban headquarters. To front his headquarters he pretended to be an antique dealer and a doctor.