characters
Al Capone originally lived in New York city while Jimmy Colosimo ran a big part of Chicago's crime.
His second hand man Torrio disliked the way Jimmy ran things. No one knows for sure, but Torrio had something to do with the boss' death.
Torrio then brought in Capone to help enact his plan of organized crime city wide. There their opinions of how to get there differed. Torrio refused to retaliate violently when mobsters broke there word, and believed in working things out verbally. Capone on the other hand had a temper and had no problem ordering hits regardless of the consequences. Soon Torrio couldn't take the violence of Chicago, and got out leaving the legacy for Capone, but warning him he must control his temper to win. Any gangster who opposed him didn't stick around long to tell about. Capone also had a good side, a religous family man, he made people like him and fear him. Prosecutor Eliot Ness caught Capone for tax evasion; Capone took his punishment and never blamed Ness.
His second hand man Torrio disliked the way Jimmy ran things. No one knows for sure, but Torrio had something to do with the boss' death.
Torrio then brought in Capone to help enact his plan of organized crime city wide. There their opinions of how to get there differed. Torrio refused to retaliate violently when mobsters broke there word, and believed in working things out verbally. Capone on the other hand had a temper and had no problem ordering hits regardless of the consequences. Soon Torrio couldn't take the violence of Chicago, and got out leaving the legacy for Capone, but warning him he must control his temper to win. Any gangster who opposed him didn't stick around long to tell about. Capone also had a good side, a religous family man, he made people like him and fear him. Prosecutor Eliot Ness caught Capone for tax evasion; Capone took his punishment and never blamed Ness.
Setting
Capone grew up in New York City, a son of Italian immigrants, he faced discrimination from many. During his time in Chicago corruption was rapid. The police where on the gangsters pay roll as were the politicians. Already making money on prostitution and gambling, bootlegging fit right in with the mobsters. When Capone first arrived in Chicago there were many gangs making and breaking treaties with each other, fighting over territories, and killing off the competition ergo starting gang wars. Not everyone was against Capone, the mayor publicly supported him and claimed to be wetter than the Atlantic. When Capone tries to settle in Miami for retirement he is met with extreme opposition by the community. The aren't opposed to illegal services he provided by his violent reputation.
Summary
Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn. He becomes a legitimate business owner running a bookstore, but proves not to be financially rewarding. His old buddy Torrio talks him into running things with him in Chicago, where he can take care of his parents and family financially. Torrio's goal is organized crime, and to control Chicago. Capone quickly makes his was to the top in bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling. Capone's only weakness was retaliating. His brother is killed and he goes out and shoots the man who killed him. This gave him a bad reputation and started an anti-capone campaign. Through negotiating and violence, Capone wins over all the operations in Chicago...except one. Jimmy Moran wouldn't give up. He constantly held up and stole alcohol from Capone's men and had the police raid one of his brothels. He had to go. St. Valentines day massacre was the result, Capone's men posing as police lined up Moran's men and executed them. Moran got away, and left for good. With no one standing in the way he took over Chicago and paraded around like a king. The police wouldn't have it, and finally convicted Scar face of tax evasion. He went to Alcatraz where he couldn't pay off the warden. After eight years he was released, but came out a different man. His syphilis had gotten worse, and he also had gonorrhea. He lived his final years in Miami as a law abiding, tax paying citizen.
Analysis
Capone lived a rich and famous life, but it got the best of him in the end. He obviously didn't just own brothels, and sell liquor and drugs, but indulged in these illegal services. All of his illness stemmed from his promiscuity. He claimed to be a family man, loving his wife kids and mother, yet he was a hypocrite having mistresses on the side. This is an ironic story of the American Dream, but instead of getting rich the right way, you use violence to take what you want. I do believe people were against him in the end because he had to serve the longest term for tax evasion in history. Sending him to Alcatraz was purely political: no one wanted to deal with him, or be accused of sympathizing with him. He did some really bad things in his time. What gets me is so many attempts were made on his life, yet someone always found out. A lot of people than you would expect were loyal to him till the end even though he was responsible for more than fifty lives.