CRIME

THE 1920S AND 1930S

• The 1920s and 1930s were two decades that changed the United States in many ways.
• One of which was crime.
• These two decades were a breeding ground for crime all over the country.

BOOTLEGGING

• On January 18th 1920 the 18th amendment passed.
• The amendment started the Prohibition era in the U.S.
• Crime organizations would then earn money by bootlegging illicit goods.
• The goods were primarily alcohol, since it was banned.

BOOTLEGGING CONT.

• Bootleggers made almost 4 billion dollars off of selling the illicit goods.
• When the 21st amendment repealed the 18th amendment in the December of 1933, bootlegging alcohol then stopped.

SPEAKEASIES

• Both the 1920s and 1930s had speakeasies.
• Speakeasies were illicit liquor stores or nightclubs.
• They started during the Prohibition era.
• They were also known as "blind pigs" or "blind tigers".

SPEAKEASIES CONT.

• The stores or clubs were run by gang bosses to earn profit from them.
• Many speakeasies played jazz music.
• After the Prohibition era ended, the term speakeasies was irrelevant. They were instead called bars or taverns.

GANG BOSSES

• The 1920s and 1930s showed us two of the most influential gang bosses that were around for almost 10 years.
• The two were out of Chicago, Illinois.
• There names were Bugs Moran and Al Capone.

BUGS MORAN

• Moran was the head of a bootlegging operation in Chicago.
• He despised Moron all throughout the 20s and 30s.
• His bootlegging operation would end by the end of prohibition and he was eventually caught.

AL CAPONE

• Al Capone was brought into power in 1925
• Capone had prostitution to make money, bootlegged alcohol, and owned many speakeasies.
• Like Moran he was convicted and imprisoned for 7 years. He never returned to Chicago

THE OFFICERS

• With all of the crime there had to have been the police force to catch the criminals.
• However, during the 20s, many officers were corrupt. They would often be bribed and even committed crimes themselves .

POLICE OFFICERS CONT.

• When the 30s hit, captains wanted to clean up the police to try to lower crime during the depression.
• The corrupt officers were caught and imprisoned. The police force became trustworthy again.

VIOLENCE

• The 1920s were considerably more violent than the 1930s.
• The 1920s had the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Where Capone's men gunned down 7 of Moran's gang members.
• Along with the murder that happened all around the country.

VIOLENCE CONT.

• When the 30s hit, most of the big gang bosses were captured including Moran and Capone.
• Gang killings were decreased drastically, lowering the amount of violence in the 30s.

REASONING

• The 20s and 30s had different reasons for crime being committed.
• The 20s happened due to the prohibition era and the banning alcohol.

REASONING CONT.

• The reason for crime in the 30s was because of the Great Depression.
• The Great Depression brought a shortage of money and people were having trouble getting by.
• This resulted to people committing crimes to get the money they need.

TIMELINE

• January 16th 1920, 18th amendment goes into effect
• 1925, Al Capone becomes a gang leader.
• February 14th, 1929, St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
• November 24, 1931, Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison.

TIMELINE CONT.

• December 5th, 1933, the 21st amendment repealed the 18th amendment.
• November 16th, 1939 Capone is released early from prison and never returns to Chicago.

ENDING AN IMPORTANT TIME

• The 1920s and 1930s have had an effect on the future
• People like Capone were not able to run major gangs.
• The police force was rid of corruption and bribery.
• Organized crime became very rare in the future.