Caroline
Webster
December 13,
2013
American Superiority
During the turn of the century the American
president at the time, Holding was eager to help the American Economy and
restore business a condition he called “normalcy”. At the time many Americans
were undergoing changes, a result of many workers going on strikes, the spike in
crime rates and Scandals.
During 1880 and 1910 there were about
17 million European immigrants that entered the United States, the growing
number forced the crime rate to rise and leave more people jobless. America’s
population and growing industry caused exports and imports to become a major
part of the economy. Smuggling was a result of the rising number of exports and
imports, people would soon hear of the underworld parlance, the Black market, whether
it was narcotics or goods. The Gilded Age consisted of American cities that had
grown more deadly than cities such as Paris, Vienna and London. The number of
crimes spiked before the great depression in 1916 there were more than 8,372
homicides in comparison to England which was only 196. Sixty years ago scandals,
crime and trials would shape America to be known as the superiority in criminal
violence.
The wealthy survived the turn of the
century the best during this point in American history however; the poor are
not the only group who would face felonies. H.H Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett),
the first American serial killer was born into a wealthy family and very
intelligent at his young age. When Herman was a child he always had an interest
for the study of Medicine. His gruesome childhood activities included trapping
animals and performing surgery’s on them, and after investigations it has even
been suggested and thought that he killed a high school classmate. After
graduating from high school he pursued the career of a pharmacist and then
began his killing career to steal people’s property. H.H Holmes later built a
house known as the “murder castle” where there were sound proof rooms, doors
that could be locked from the outside, and gas rooms where he would kill his
victims. After he confessed to 130 murders, the supreme court was astonished, some
researchers even believe that it he easily killed over 200 people and this
event would cause a new perspective and demand for protection and officers.
Scandals during the early 1920’s such
as the Teapot Dome scandal, also known as the oil reserves scandal, the Black
Socks scandal, and the gang war are a part of substantive criminal law.
Felonies and misdemeanors such as these drift away from the peace and
prosperity that Holding strived for. The Tea Pot Dome scandal was the secret leasing
of federal oil reserves, congress directed the President to cancel the leases
and the Supreme Court declared the leases fraudulent. The Black Sox Scandal, an
American baseball scandal was the theory that eight players were bribed to lose
the game in 1919 to the Cincinnati Reds. Gamblers were entering the field of
athletics, resulting in the seven players that were suspended. The gang war
engulfed New York the newspaper kept track of the deaths like keeping track of
baseball scores.
The tremendous growth in crime in the
United States surpassed every other country during the turn of the century and
eventually led to the Great Depression. A time of misconduct and fortune lead
to the idea of wealthy vs. poor survival of and the survival of the fittest.
Works Cited
"Britannica Mobile Edition." Britannica Mobile. Encyclopedia
Britannica, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://m.search.eb.com/topic/
Placko, Dane, and Rory Hood. "Chilling Tour inside Serial
Killer H.H. Holmes` `Murder Castle` - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32
News." Chilling Tour
inside Serial Killer H.H. Holmes` `Murder Castle` - Chicago News and Weather |
FOX 32 News. Fox Television Stations, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Dec.
2013.
Stanley, Tim. "Too Close to Home." History Today. History Today,
n.d. Web.13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.historytoday.com/
When Political Crimes
Are Inside Jobs: Detecting State Crimes against Democracy
Lance deHaven-Smith
Administrative Theory
& Praxis , Vol. 28, No. 3
(Sep., 2006), pp. 330-355
Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
Article Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25610803
No comments:
Post a Comment