Was the Federal Government's choice to enact prohibition responsible for the rise of Al Capone?
The enactment of prohibition and it's inevitable end
had created a decade of public outcry and crime. It led to the creation of
organized crime and giant crime syndicates such as Alphonse Capone. As
prohibition progressed in the 1920's the amount of crime became widespread, the
amount of organized crimes families began to blossom in the mists of the chaos.
One of the most notable crime families was run by Johnny Torrio which was
succeeded by the infamous Al Capone. Due to the eighteenth amendment Al Capone
was able to grasp an opportunity to make his mark in American history as one of
America's most infamous. From the opportunities that prohibition had brought Al
Capone began to run bootlegging, gambling and prostitution rackets to supply
the citizens of the United States with what had been taken away from them.
Contrary to the Federal Government’s beliefs their enactment of prohibition had
brought much more bad than good to America in the form of organized crime, more
specifically Al Capone and his business. In the decade that prohibition was in
effect Al Capone had opened tens of thousands of speakeasy clubs as well as
being able to successfully transport liquor around the United States to supply
his speakeasies. From this it was obvious to see that prohibition was going to
meet an inevitable end. In 1933 an Amendment was introduced to appeal the
Eighteenth Amendment; after the appealing of the Eighteenth Amendment organized
crime began to die down, speakeasies began to close and Al Capone’s figure
began to fade into American history. Now, it is evident to see that yes, the
enactment of prohibition caused the rise of Al Capone. From the year 1920 there
was little to no news about Al Capone but as the years progressed in that
decade his name became widespread; as soon as prohibition was appealed, so was
Al Capone.