mafia Essay -- essays research papers

Their guns terrorized the streets of New York. They were murderous, brutal thugs that killed with no feelings of remorse. They were bank-robbers, drug dealers, casino featureers, hit men and pimps. They were the mafia of the 1920s and 1930s. These degenerates played an important role in the Statesn history, they were more than just bank-robbers and gunslingers, and they were men that affected all facets of society. They were celebrities, some of the most recognized men in America. Their evil deeds made the front page of every newspaper. They were some of the richest men in America, but most of all they were the scapegoats for Americas problems. They were hated by many, respect by few and feared by all. In times of poverty and despair, they were looked upon as the "problem", which needed to be "fixed". The fear they imposed on America gave Americans something to unite over and fight against together. Sometimes, a person is most courageous when they are most fearful . They made America "roar" in the twenties and they took "the fretfulness" of thirties. They were some of Americas most dangerous men and some of its most famous as well. In order to obtain an objective view towards the maffia, one essential know a little about its history. The Mafia was first started in the ninth century, in Sicily. At this time, Arab forces were occupying Sicily. The natives were being oppressed, so they took refuge in the contact hills and formed a secret society to protect against the foreign invaders. This secret society was named Mafia, after the Arabic word for refuge. The societys intentions were to create a sense of family, establish on ancestry and Sicilian heritage. During the 1700s, Mafia leaders began to force their way to the head positions in the Sicilian government and used government funds for their own private endeavours. In the early 1900s, when Mussolini and the Fascists came to power, he vowed to rid the country of all the Maf ia. Keeping this in mind, and the fact that there was silver to be made finished extortion, prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the United States, many Mafiosos decided to come west to America. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the eventual organizer of the New York Mafia, was born in Sicily in 1897, and came to New York. Luciano climbed the "criminal ladder" and by 1935, he was known ... ...titution was so profitable, because it offered the most easily marketable and vendible product in the world sex. The Mafia used the prostitutes as tools to make more business. They placed their "girls" throughout their clubs, so they could lure some high roller in the back for a inebriety or two. They worked the bars, and listened to lonely middle class men who needed a shoulder to cry on. They were on the streets mingling with the crowd, looking for their next perverted customer. The bosses often used prostitutes to "sweeten" deal between rival leaders or crook ed politicians. They were as dangerous as the trained killers were, because they possessed something more coercive than guns. They were just as ruthless as the men that put holes in peoples heads they only came in a nicer package. The Mafia men of the 1920s and 1930s were some of the most authoritative men in American history. They robbed banks, killed people, stole, cheated, lied and corrupted an already corrupt country. They were not role models, and they did not aspire to be. They were businessmen, men who had only two objectives, money and power. They saw a need for something and they produced it.