The 1920's were plagued with violence and crime, primarily circulating around the prohibition issue. Prohibition became the focus of politics and legislative action during the Temperance movement, mainly led by women. The Women's Christian Temperance Union and Daughters of Temperance were two of the main political groups that protested the large production and consumption of alcohol.

The 18th amendment was passed in December of 1917 and stated that production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquor/alcohol was illegal. This amendment was backed up by the Volstead Act, which was a separate piece of legislation that set forth the means of enforcing the Prohibition Amendment. The Volstead Act/National Prohibition Act allowed for medicinal whiskey to be prescribed in small amounts and for other exceptions to be made. The police were put in charge of stopping the increasing trend of "bootlegging".

As soon as alcohol became illegal, there was an increasing demand for it among the public. People wanted to drink, and gangsters and criminal gangs were willing to give the people what they wanted. "Speakeasies", ran by criminal gangs, became a common place for illegal liquor to be made available to the public. This illegal production and distribution of alcohol was difficult to contain or enforce action upon due to the increasing wealth of the gangsters. It was easy for a wealthy gangster to pay off policemen or afford the best lawyer in the state.

One of the most famous gangsters of all time was, of course, Al Capone. In Chicago, between 1920 and 1931, Capone ran the largest bootlegging and liquor smuggling businesses in the country. George "Bugs" Moran was the leader of the rival gang of Al Capone and brought about the largest bootlegging competition in the vast city of Chicago. It was often that violence occurred between the two gangs, but one incident stood more prominent than the rest.

The St. Valentines Day Massacre was one of the most puzzling and interesting examples of criminal mob violence, mainly due to the confusing plot and unanswered questions. One February night in 1929, an eye witness looked out of her window after hearing gun fire and saw two police men escorting two "criminals" out of a building garage. The witness assumed that it was a typical arrest and could have never guessed what truly had just occurred. In a garage just off of Clark Street in Chicago, two men dressed as police officers and another two men in normal clothes stopped seven gang members, seemingly belonging to Moran's Gang. The "officers" were pretending to bust the men for violating the 18th amendment and the seven men were forced to face the wall. They were shot down one by one.

The only survivor of the massacre was Frank Gusenburg, who later died in the hospital after surprisingly refusing to name the men that shot them down. The only suspect in the case was the notorious Al Capone, who had the excuse that he was in Florida during the shooting. However, several sources claimed that Capone had stated " Moran was not an easy person to get rid of. So in order to get rid of him, I will start at the bottom and get rid of his whole outfit, leaving him defenseless. I will h ave to kill a lot of people to get to 'Bugs', but I'll send flowers."

Capone was never charged with these murders and no prosecutions were ever made regarding the massacre. During this time period, gangs truly ran the cities and could literally "get away with murder." However, following the massacre, public opinion on prohibition changed. The police were more aware of the possible gruesome outcomes if the gang actions were continuously ignored. Determined to repair the nation's criminal justice system was newly-elected president Hoover. Hoover was determined to clean up Capone's mess and make an example out of him.

Resources:

Hayles, T. (2004). Organized Crime: How it was Changed by Prohibition . Retrieved May 30, 2014, from UMICH: http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nkazmers/organizedcrime2.html

Many Cuban exiles and Mafia bosses disliked President Kennedy. Both groups placed blame on Kennedy for his failed Bay of Pigs invasion. In his book, They Killed Our President, Jessie Ventura stated: "John F. Kennedy was murdered by a conspiracy involving disgruntled CIA agents, anti-Castro Cubans, and members of the Mafia, all of whom were extremely angry at what they viewed as Kennedy's appeasement policies toward Communist Cuba and the Soviet Union."

Clearly the events of Kennedy's massacre are still fuzzy although countless rumors still speculate today. This connection was made to the St. Valentines Day Massacre because the details of the killings are still fuzzy and because the culprits are still un-named. In both instances, there are leads for the shootings but no positive inferences have been made.

References:

John F. Kennedy Assasination Conspiracies . (2014, May 29). Retrieved May 30, 2014, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_conspiracy_theories

Speaker: John O'Brien is the author of the front page news article appearing in the Manitowoc Herald Newspaper from Manitowoc, WI in February of 1929, just after the shooting. This reporter was clearly an experienced writer and researcher and had authority to report on the massacre nearly a day after it occurred. This newspaper was the official city newspaper and reported on a topic that occurred in Chicago, Illinois.

Occasion: The larger concept of the article would be gang violence and prohibition prompted crime. During this time period, gangsters were common causes of violence and murders. These instances of violence circled around bootlegging, speakeasy managing, and rival gangs. The immediate instance that caused this article happened on February 14th, 1929. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was an instance of violence that involved 7, now dead, members of the Moran Gang and 4, probable shooters, of the Capone Gang.

Audience: The article was addressed to the general public of the newspaper, being Manitowoc, WI. This newspaper was a city-based paper that normally reported on state news, but branched out to national news due to the severity of this shooting. The message of the article is informative and stern, alerting the audience of the violence that had erupted. The audience, being mainly adults that read the newspaper, was told a point-blank story with much bias about the Capone Gang and their involvement. For this audience, the article was very mature.

Purpose: The goal of this article was to inform the reader of the violent act that occurred and the cause behind it. The author seemed to touch on the negative outcomes of the Prohibition movement and how the crime rate has increased. It seemed slightly biased as to take the side of an anti-prohibitionist, but this is not confirmed. The author continues to discuss the involvement of the Capone gang and Al Capone himself, also seeming biased that they were to blame. As a result of this text, the author seems to almost encourage the end of prohibition in order for the police to once again gain control of the streets/crime and stop the gangsters from running the city.

Subject: This text was about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, previously explained in great detail in earlier parts of this presentation. This struggle is not individual, but general as the crime that routes from gangsters is present in all cities. This was not a local issue and involved two of the largest gangsters in the nation. This article was concrete in the details of the shooting but also abstract in that it addressed all gang crime in cities. This was a current event because most of the crime and violence occurred during the prohibition movement through the 1920's and 1930's.

References: link to image of article is at top of document

O'Brien, J. (1929, February 15). Link Police with Slaying of 7. Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=qc8KugUz6RlOXM&tbnid=oewCB2QnK9_tEM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mysterynet.com%2Fvdaymassacre%2F&ei=bjSHU7XWHcSsyASP9IKgBA&bvm=bv.68114441,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNHKhuvPfAgpJ3jJ4aprfxVbXc0gvg&ust=1401456097037117 https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=k3xCsIEEWugLIM&tbnid=cZw8kNk2RjDTCM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fterencebowmanblog.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F02%2Fsaint-valentines-day-massacre-and-movie.html&ei=RDaHU5ykCc60yAS86oCYBA&bvm=bv.68114441,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNHk9tkLSkVWUfa73JQmmNJsFOf10g&ust=1401456502016185 https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=IUR6pjAjdRAf0M&tbnid=lLo6kDljn48JxM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Flearning.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2012%2F02%2F14%2Ffeb-14-1929-al-capone-gang-wages-st-valentines-day-massacre%2F&ei=YDaHU4DRJsetyATQ74DYBw&bvm=bv.68114441,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNHk9tkLSkVWUfa73JQmmNJsFOf10g&ust=1401456502016185

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=kennedy+killing+mob&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=ErkPzytBLTMaBM&tbnid=QTcRrQLKDIVf1M:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upi.com%2FTop_News%2FUS%2F2013%2F11%2F17%2FThe-Issue-The-Kennedy-assassination-did-the-mob-do-it%2FUPI-41021384680600%2F&ei=YD2HU6HYC8OYyATQw4DwBQ&bvm=bv.68114441,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNEdnmvtN_DluhHb66GbwetJOl0mIQ&ust=1401458396356278