“The Roaring Twenties,”; what a perfect aphorism. It was certainly roaring
with music and dance, but it also was roaring with gangsters. In the aspect of
gangsterism, the thirties were also roaring. Americans in this time period
tolerated criminals, especially those involved in bootlegging. Bootlegging is
the smuggling of illegal substances. Bootlegging could have possibly been
tolerated because of the recent outlaw of alcohol during this time period, known
as the Prohibition.
Gangsters were involved in bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, organized
crime, and racketeering. Al “Scarface “ Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and John
Dillinger were the headliners of this era. Gangsterism provided a risky job but
maximum rewards in a time when jobs were scarce and our country was in the midst
of a depression.
When Congress passed the eighteenth amendment, alcohol was banned in every
way from America. People who were addicted to alcohol and even those who were
accustomed to the casual drink still had a demand for it. Many would pay top
dollar for a drink, they didn’t think obtaining alcohol would be too immoral
because it was legal just a few years back.
Citizens would hold private socials and would serve alcohol to all of the
guests, this was usually done by the wealthy because of the high cost of
alcohol. This opened up many opportunities for those who were willing to take
risks and bootleg illegal alcohol to the country. With money flowing like water
to many of these gangsters, greed began to grow rapidly among them.
They began to explore more demoralizing fields of work. These gangsters began
to open speakeasies, which were like old west taverns with prostitution,
gambling, and of course, drinking. Speakeasies always had cover charges ranging
from five dollars to twenty-five dollars, depending on the price of alcohol at
the time. America’s obsession for alcohol allowed the owners to charge any price
they wanted.
Thousands of speakeasies were located in Chicago, which meant that
tens-of-thousands of speakeasies were spread around the country, with most in
the large cities. So many Americans were sneaking around under the law that
moral values began to dwindle. Gangsters moved up in the ranks and began more
vicious crimes such as murder and massive theft. Most of these crimes were
necessary to keep business alive. Murder was widespread because some people who
would be paid to keep quiet would talk, in return they would be dealt with…very
harshly.
