The Rise And Fall Of Al Capone

Essay, Research Paper

The Rise and Fall of Al Capone

Alphonse Capone was born in New York City by two parents Gabriel

and Teresa Capone. Capone’s parents immigrated to the United States in

1893 from Naples, Italy. Capone came from a large family and was the

fourth oldest of nine children. (Kobler 10). As a child, Capone was very

wise when it came to living on the streets of New York. He had a clever

mind when it came to knowing his environment. Capone was not very bright

when it came to school. Capone was an illiterate. He came from a poor

neighborhood in Brooklyn, so education was not a priority.

At about the age of eleven Capone became a member of a juvenile

gang in his neighborhood. Al Capone’s philosophy was that laws only

applied to people who had enough money to live by them.

The name of the gang Capone became a member of was called the Bim

Booms gang. In this gang, Capone was taught how to defend himself with a

knife, and with a gun. By the time Capone reached the sixth grade he had

already become a street brawler. Capone never responded well to authority

and for this very reason his schooling would soon come to an end. While

attending school, Capone was responsible for beating a female teacher and

knocking her to the ground. The principal of the school rushed in and

punished young Capone and for this very reason he would never return to

school again. (Sifakis 603)

After dropping out of school, Capone took up jobs such as working as

a pin-setter at a bowling alley, and working behind the counter at a candy

store. Capone was terrific at pool, winning every eightball tournament held in

Brooklyn. He also became an expert knife fighter. Although the Bim

Booms gang was the first gang Capone ever entered, he was quickly picked

up by the Five Pointers . The Five Pointers was the most powerful gang in

New York city. The gang was headed by Johnny Torrio, and was made up of

over 1,500 thugs who specialized in burglary, extortion, robbery, assault, and

murder. While working as a strong arm enforcer under Torrio, Capone

learned all the lethal tricks that would help him reach a pinnacle point in

organized crime. Capone was very grateful to Torrio. Torrio first set Capone

out to do all of his dirty work . Capone was sent to beat up loan shark

victims behind on their payments, then a pimp, beating up girls who were

holding out on their nightly take. Torrio finally got Capone a job as a bouncer

at the Harvard Inn. By this time Capone was recognized by his gang as being

a vicious fighter with both fists and knives. He also became an excellent

shooter with both a revolver and automatic weapons. This was due to many

months of shooting empty bottles in the basement at the Harvard Inn. Capone

was later promoted to bartender at the Harvard Inn. At this time Capone

recieved the scar which would give him his famous nickname, Scarface . It

is really not known how Capone ended up with a scar that extended four

inches across his left cheek. Capone often lied about how he got the scar.

On December 18, 1918, Capone was married at the age of 19, to a 21

year old Irish girl named Mae Coughlin. A short time later Albert Francis

Capone was born to the couple. At the same time this was going on, in New

York, Johnny Torrio moved his operations to Chicago. Torrio’s prospects in

New York looked low because Capone was charged for two murders. He

was released when a witness lost her memory, and evidence suddenly

vanished from the court. Al Capone knew that he had Torrio to thank for

this. A few days later, Capone got into a fight with another man and killed

him. Rather than being charged again, Capone called Torrio and received an

invitation to move to Chicago. (Nash 604)

As Capone arrived in Chicago, Capone was given a job as a bouncer at

Torrio’s newest club, The Four Deuces. Capone was known as an aggressive

man, hospitalizing most of the drunks he evicted. Men were hospitalized

with broken arms, broken legs, and skull fractures. Capone was repeatedly

arrested for assault, but was always released thanks to Torrio’s police

connections. While working at The Four Deuces, Capone strangled at least

twelve men with his bare hands. The bodies were dragged to the basement

through a trap door that led to the alley behind the club. There a fast getaway

car would always be waiting for Capone to flee in. The underworld of

Chicago at the time was being run by a man named “Big Jim” Colosimo.

Colosimo was a flamboyant man. He dressed in expensive suits and was

covered in diamond jewelry. He was always seen eating at expensive

restaurants, and owned all the brothels, saloons, and gambling establishments

in Chicago. (Nash 605)

Johnny Torrio grew very jealous of Colosimo and soon sent for his

most loyal hitman, Al Capone. When Capone arrived in Chicago, he was