US History Research Project: Crime From 1880 to 1920

 

Crime and violence in the US quickly began to rise in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Cities were most impacted by the violence due to new gangs forming and  riots occurring over political and racial affairs. During the time period from 1880 to 1920 much urbanization was happening and the crime and homicide rate went up heavily to 102,000 in 1900 and in 1919 it was at 700,000. During this time period many new innovations were being created and events were documented much better than before. Newspapers being printed regularly impacted the country by letting all the people know what is happening such as crime, murders, and scandals.

A notorious gang, The Valley gang was a violent gang that originated in Chicago Illinois in the late 19th century. The gang consisted mostly of Irish descendants and they ran the street known as the Bloody Maxwell section on 15th street in Chicago. The crime that was popular within this gang was pick pocketing and armed robbery. By 1900 the gang became the leading force in the underworld of Chicago. They were later noticed by Capone and the Chicago Outfit gang and became allies with them over a few years. Following the bootleg wars both allied gangs were battling their rival gang the Ragen's Colts and many other gangs and law enforcement during the time of prohibition. The leader of the Valley gang was Patty “the fox” Ryan until killed by gang rival Walter “runt” Quinlan in 1920. Capone allowed the Valley gang 40% of his income for return for protection from The Ragen’s Colts.

The Chicago Outfit Gang ran by Al Capone was a very wealthy and notorious gang also originating in Chicago Illinois. The gang controlled large movements and shipments of liquor during the prohibition. This gang was also known as the Chicago Mafia due to the heavy presence of Italian descendants in its members. It was founded by Big Jim Colosimo in 1910. The gang didn't really show their power until around the 1920’s. The gang was involved in much crime during the early 20th century. The crime consisted on distribution of large amounts of alcohol, loansharking, gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. The rival gangs most delt with by The Chicago outfit were the Ragen’s Colts, Five Families gang, Detroit Cleveland gang, and the Milwaukee gang.

Another street gang in Chicago at the time was the Ragen’s Colts, known rivals with the Chicago Outfit gang and the Valley gang. The Ragen’s Colts started off as a sports club consisting of men playing sports. The gang was later formed by leading pitcher Frank Ragen and this is where the name for the gang came from. The number of members in the gang rose from 160 in 1902 to over 2,000 in 1908.Frank Ragen was known to hire lots of men to partake in election fraud. The gang had also financed many careers in Chicago including the Chicago Police and city treasurers. By 1920 many of the men were already known as notorious criminals or murderers. This gang was believed to be a leading cause of the riots in 1919 in Chicago.

The Chicago Race riot of 1919 was caused by torment and disagreements brought on by gangs towards african americans. The Large racial conflict started on the 27 of July and ended on the 3rd of August. 38 people were killed in this riot and 500 were injured. It was the worst of 25 riots during the red summer. The cause of this riot was conflict due to african americans moving into big cities that were filled with urbanization. The Irish descendants that were already living there at the time did not like that the African Americans were moving in and this started the racial conflict and riots in Chicago. The Irish living their fiercely defended their thought to be territory and this created fighting between races. The battle to find jobs was immense and this was a main reason for the conflict because everybody was looking for labor. The racial battle became violent after a young black boy was killed by a rock hitting his head.

Overall the late 19th century and early 20th century was a time period starting to experience more and more crime. The murders and violence brought on by gangs were a large part of the troubles faced by large cities ranging from the north to the south. The rise of violence was caused mainly due to urbanization and the racial battle that was going on. From 1880 to 1920 many good thing in the united states occurred but there were also a large amount of crime that came along with it.

Chicago riot of 1919

Riots Across the US

Valley Gang

Al Capone

Ragen”s Colts

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-infamous-gangs-of-chicago

I used this source to find different gangs in the Chicago region

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html

I used this source to study and gain facts about the race riots of Chicago and around the nation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit

I used this source to study the Chicago Outfit gang ran by Al Capone

https://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/ganghistory/Industrial%20Era/Ragen.html

I used this source to study the Ragens Colts Gang also in Chicago

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/chicago-race-riot-of-1919

I used this site directly for information about the Chicago Race riot.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_red.html
I used this source for additional information about the race riots.

Human Migration and Population

After researching Human migration and population I came across several interesting facts that I was not familiar with.One includes the migration from Africa and the Idea that most humans originated from Africa until about 60,000 years ago. I read more about this and learned that the reason behind humans living in Africa had to do a lot with climate. The reason many migrated from Africa thousands of years ago is not 100% certain but scientist and researchers think it was because strong climate shifts and it was around the time period of the last bad ice age.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy- the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.

In my opinion the difference in philanthropy and charity is that philanthropy includes large donations going to a cause that will be beneficial to something for a long time. Charity involves a more temporary fix towards something and may not be beneficial for a long period of time. In my opinion both are beneficial and are much needed in the society today.

Supply Chain Management Research

     Today I learned several new facts about large retail companies that I have not heard of before. I learned about the still expanding Zara and how they produce the enormous quantities of clothing for cheap prices but still make billions a year on profit from over 1,700 stores throughout 86 countries. After reading this article about the Zara's Fast-Fashion edge on Bloomberg Business I began to question the treatment and hours of the workers working in the five million square foot distribution center for the company. Looking at other large retail companies such as Unilqo and H&M, all these companies relate to each other by competing over prices and making sure they make enough product to compete with these other companies in the shortest amount of time possible. The CEO of Uniqlo is one of the wealthiest men in Japan keeping a revenue of Billions a year. The CEO Tadashi Yanai expects the companies revenues to grow over fifty billion dollars by the year 2020. Overall after doing some quick research about the Supply Management Chain and reading these articles it brings up a very important question on just how theses large retail companies are making the profits by cheaply producing the goods.

Newspaper and Social Media

1. Definition of newspaper- a printed publication including articles and advertisements
2. One of the earliest signs of newspaper was in the early 17 century in Europe
3. An example of one of the first newspapers in the Untied states would be the New Hampshire Gazette
4. After reading the lasted Ny times there sections dealing with politics and how "Clinton is in the hot seat" and a story about the Mets winning a baseball game
5. A newspaper of record is paper that presents public events and stories. An example would the the Ny times or the Gaurdian in the United Kingdom
6. Newspapers are different from social media because social media most of the time depicts a persons personal life and a newspaper depicts public news and events. Both share similarities though such as pictures and stories seen on both sources.

Native American Research

     Native Americans are well known for living off the land and using natural resources for tools and other daily necessities. After doing some research I became very interested about how the weapons and tools made by the Native Americans evolved over time and influenced what we use today. After researching several different tribes I became fond of the Plains Indians because of the numerous weapons and tools they used and the techniques they used to do things such as hunt, fish, and farm. The animals hunted in the plains region was similar if not the same to the game hunted in theses regions today. Big game animals such as deer, antelope, elk, and buffalo were the most commonly hunted animals by the 1800's. The only animal not hunted as frequently today due to low populations is the buffalo. Small game was commonly hunted as well such as rabbits and other small rodents. These animals provided the Indians with food, clothing, and tools. By the 1800's the plains tribe was a horseback and buffalo tribe meaning that they learned to follow herds of buffalo because the buffalo were one of the most important resources available to the tribe.

     The weapons used by the Plains tribe consisted of bow and arrows, spears, axes, clubs, and knifes. The tribe had certain techniques that worked for them when they were hunting, most of the techniques used influenced how we hunt today in the modern era. The weapons used by the Plains Indians were some-what simple but were very reliable and something as small as arrowhead could be used in many different ways. One specific object I was interested in were the arrowheads they used to hunt with. Unlike today the Native Americans had to make everything they used to survive by hand so even something as small as an arrow head had to be made precisely with skill. The Plains Indians used several different types of arrowheads depending on the animal being hunted. Three different types of arrowheads used by the Plains Indians were stunner point, poison point, and bird point arrowheads. The stunner point arrowhead was used when the tribe didn't want to kill an animal but stun it for long enough to gain needed resources from the animal. An example of a stunner point arrowhead being used during the time of this tribe is that they would shoot an animal such as a eagle with the arrowhead leaving it temporarily stunned so they could take feathers from it without killing it. The other two arrow heads were made to be deadly. The poison point arrow head was typically soaked in rattle snake venom or decaying meat to poison a animal. The bird point arrowhead was a smaller arrowhead and it was used for smaller game such as birds or rabbits.

http://www.kawvalley.k12.ks.us/schools/rjh/marneyg/archived_projects/02_plains-history/02_jmckenzie_weapons.htm

What I Have Learned In First Quarter

     Approaching the end of the first quarter I have a better understanding for what it takes to have organized, detailed, and non plagiarized research. At the beginning of the quarter the class went over the expectations and goals for the year and the importance of completing assignments using correct methods insuring that work will not be plagiarized. At first I was not exactly sure if I knew how to use the correct methods but after the first couple assignments I became more confident with my work and began to understand what was being looked for in the class. This year I learned certain tech skills that were some-what familiar to me but I had not used them much until this class. I learned how to easily hyperlink a source and post different entries onto my blog.

     During the first quarter I learned the importance of studying movies that involve historical significance such as the movies we watched in class, 12 Years A Slave and Glory. These movies not only helped me understand the events but also opened up a new understanding about what components go into movies to make them historically accurate but also popular to watch. Overall I have learned many important skills in the class and hope to continue to learn as the year progresses.