Organized Crime
Prohibition was set in the 1920s. It banned the making and selling of liquor. Crime businesses were set up to sell booze for high prices. Since they were the only ones selling liquor they made a lot of money easily and also they were looked upon as heroes by the innocent people that would drink. People would smuggle booze in like the man on the picture------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Above. Because of the prohibition, many people lost their jobs and went broke. So many went into gangsterism because it was easy money, many jobs payed a dollar an hour, while gangsterism payed more than 100 dollars per job.The picture to the top left is a man smuggling, most people that would smuggle would get away with it, in fact, the police only got about 5% of smuggled booze. Because of prohibition, smuggling booze was the most popular crime of the time. This picture shows that the prohibition made people desperate or gave people a chance to attempt to make money like the guy above, he was attempting to smuggle booze for money but he unluckily got caught.
This is a famous quote from Al Capone, it is tied to the 1920s. It says the when he sells liquor it is bootlegging because back when the prohibition was in act, you could make or sell any types of liquor. But it says that it is hospitality if they serve it because the mobsters liked to be looked at as heroes and not criminals. Many were looked at as modern day Robin Hoods, they stole from the rich(Made and sold liquor even though it was illegal) and gave to the poor(The citizens that couldn't drink legally). The quote captions the way that Capone operated in general but there are still many many more crime syndicates that functioned similarly and ones that have a whole new look on everything. The quote ties into prohibition also because that outlawed the making and selling of liquor, and the quote is a way of saying what he means when he sells or gives booze when it was illegal. Also, the picture shows that Capone and many other mobsters looked nice, they would wear suits and look very sharp even though they could kill a man in an instance.
This political cartoon shows the force of bootleggers and the force of the police to them n the 1920s. It shows how the bootleggers were so powerful because police would try as hard as they could to stop them but they didn't achieve their goals. They basically just dug their hole even deeper, they attempted to stop people from getting drunk and breaking the laws but with the prohibition they just made everyone break more laws and more people got drunk. The police were almost a joke to many, they barely noticed anything and they barely caught anyone. Also the picture shows the comparison of the population bootleggers and the police. The amount of bootleggers are towering over the amount of police at the time.
This political cartoon shows how many of the political figures would take money to not say anything about the mobsters. They would see tings happen all over but they would not put up an effort to justify their actions. The reason they all have their hands out behind their backs is for the bribes that the mobsters would have to pay. The mobsters would end up having to pay them a lot because if they stopped, the people would then use all of the evidence to convict them. The authorities and political figures are 100% blackmailing them, and that could make them lose their jobs and go to jail, so they all wanted to keep it hidden. All the while their fame/respect would go down tremendously. The political cartoon ties into the 1920s because it happened so much that it can be an entire topic itself. It was also one of the leading causes of why the prohibition failed and why the country went into poverty.
The picture to the left shows that the mobsters were not afraid to carry guns because in the picture it shows a few mobsters with a few guns that were clearly not hidden, they were just laid across the table. They could get in trouble with the police if they walked in but they needed them in case other people that did not like them attempted to kill them, then they would be able to protect themselves. They were not scared about anything almost. They had to carry weapons though also for threats, safety, and to intimidate anyone who would think to try to attack them. The picture ties into the 1920s because many people would carry Tommy guns and rifles. If you think of the 1920s you would think of mobsters carrying Tommy guns and this shows all of that.
Keywords/phrases from 1920s
Prohibition=no making/selling booze
America runs dry.=no more booze
The Big Cheese-the big boss
Double-Cross=to cheat/back-stab
Hair of the dog=shot of whiskey
Prohibition=no making/selling booze
America runs dry.=no more booze
The Big Cheese-the big boss
Double-Cross=to cheat/back-stab
Hair of the dog=shot of whiskey