Arnold Rothstein: Corruption In The 1920's

William "Boss" Tweed began his rise to influence in the late 1840s as a volunteer fireman in New York City. From this inauspicious beginning, Tweed managed to build a power base in his ward. He served as an alderman in 1852-53 and then was elected to a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1853-55. State and local affairs were his prime concern and he remained active in Tammany Hall, the organizational force of the Democratic Party in New York. Tweed emerged as the focal point of patronage decisions, giving him immense power.Boss Tweed gathered a small group of men who controlled New York City 's finances. They dispensed jobs and contracts

This exhibit is focused on the “Roaring 20’s”, and what made the 1920s roar. The Roaring Twenties roared because of the vast amounts of spending, the crime, and people just having fun. Willie Sutton was an extravagant bank robber during the 1920s. Sutton was born on June 30, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York. Willie Sutton wasn’t a typical thug. He was instead described by those he encountered as polite and even a gentleman. During his forty-year robber career he stole an estimated two million dollars, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escaped three times.(“Willie Sutton.” Willie Sutton , FBI.). He was known for executing robberies in disguises, he gained two nicknames, "Willie the Actor"

The time of reconstruction occurred right after the years of the Civil War. With the recent assassination of America's beloved president, Abraham Lincoln, the nation realized how important it was to start from the bottom. Lincoln had many ideas about how to restore the United States after the tragedy known as the Civil War. However, the scandals of that time were hardly what he had hoped for. Instead, the scandals got out of hand and America went into turmoil.

Al Capone, a mob boss. In 1920s the mob was at its peak. The mob made alcohol, had prostitutes and gambled during the prohibition. The prohibition was when the 18th amendment was passed, the 18th amendment banned alcohol in the United States. Capone was one of the more well known mob bosses. He made 100 million annually. Capone influence the United States by doing what he wanted, he influenced todays law system, and helped Chicago 's people through tough times.

During the 1920s, America seemed to be a land of glamor and luxury. Underneath the beauty, however, was a vast underworld of crime: bootleggers and gangs ran rampant, controlling even members of the government. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he tells a tale of that decade, which appears glamorous but is filled with corruption. The novel makes a naturalism argument about the impossibility of changing social class, revealing that only a facade of mobility can be achieved through debaucherous actions.

Mobsters was a term that describes a group of gangsters in the 1920’s. Gambling, Prostitution, and Murder went hand in hand with the term of mobster. Every mafia group has a leader. Al Capone was a dangerous mobster who was a Mafia crime lord and had took part in illegal alcohol, illegal drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling during the 1920s (History).

The Gilded Age was a period after the Civil War, between the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, the United States went through a period of economical, political and social growth. However, Corruption was common throughout the Gilded Age and greatly affected the United States of America. Railroad Corruption, such as Credit Mobilier, a railroad construction company for the Union Pacific RailRoad that overcharged the public for construction costs, Political Corruption that was based around various scandals as well as Patronage, were all forms of corruption that took place throughout the Gilded Age.

Born in Richford, New York in 1839, John Davison Rockefeller was the second child of his parents and had five siblings. He did not have an easy and wealthy childhood as his father was a part-time salesman and a full-time philanderer. Therefore, his mother always struggled hard for their livelihood and her first son had to stay away from his family to make more money for lengthy periods.

The level of influence a time period has on a country is defined by its political, economic, and social change. The 1920s was one of the most influential decades in the history of the United States. Corrupt politicians, tax cuts for the rich and new opportunities for women signify the influence of the Roaring 20s.

The 1920s was a time of entrepreneurship, big spending, and partying. At the heart of these parties was the popular 1920s activity of drinking, Which was threatened by prohibition. The law of prohibition came into effect on January 16, 1920 and was intended to end drinking and drunkenness. However this policy backfired and sent the American alcohol industry into black market functions. Prohibition is found throughout the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, especially in the life of the character Jay Gatsby.

During the history of New York, there is the history of Tammany Hall founded in 1789 in opposition to the Federalist Party, and the main goal of this organization was to fight against the Federalist Party as Antifederalists. The Federalist Party’s main goal was to ratify the constitution and divide the power between the national government and the state government, so, the Tammany Hall was created to fight against the goal of the Federalist Party. Also, from 1890s to 1934, Tammany Hall became famous due charges of corruption against the leader William M. Boss Tweed, better known as “Boss”. Although this organization was guilty of some corruption cases, it succeeded because it helped poor people and because it never lost touch with its people;

On January 14,1741, Benedict Arnold was born to a well off family. A sea-captain and merchant for a father and a widow for a mother. Arnold throughout his life has had to make hard decisions, for in 1752, at age eleven, Arnold was sent away to boarding school. Arnold

Atlantic City was once the powerhouse of the east coast raking in tourists, large sums of money, and monopolizing the gambling industry. Nick Paumgarten wrote “The Death and Life of Atlantic City”, which states “The casino closures in Atlantic City have contributed to the loss of nearly 10,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics” (102). Four out of the twelve casinos closed which contributed to 8,000 of those jobs. Three of the remaining casinos are currently facing bankruptcy which contributes to the other 2,000 people left jobless. The question Atlantic City is faced with a matter of needing more gambling or less? Governor Christie, along with the rest of legislation in New Jersey, is making some bold moves in the hopes to save

Rosengren begins his article “Losing It All” by introducing a man named Scott Stevens. Stevens, at age 52, was consumed by his addiction to casino gambling, forcing him to end his own life. This man, as Rosengren explains, couldn’t control himself from gambling away up to $4 million; most of this money was from stealing company funds (Stevens worked at an investment firm). Rosengren tells the story of Scott Stevens to emphasize the destructiveness of gambling addiction.

In the late 1910’s, Virgil Reece Murphy lived on the border of Putnam County and Overton County in a community called Spring Creek. It was there that he was taught how to craft moonshine from other family members. This skill allowed for him to craft delectable homebrew which attracted customers from all places. This highly successful practice, however, was to soon come into confrontation with the politics.