Italian Mafia History essays

Italian Mafia History essays The Mafia started early in the 9th century. This was the period in which the Arab forces occupied Sicily. Sicilians needed a place to escape to. The word Mafia means refuge in Arab language. The Normans invaded a Sicily in the 11th century. Once again they were forced to work for these invaders as slaves. The only way to escape this was to hide in the hills of the island. When Sicily was invaded the refuges were pursued just as every time that they had been invaded before. These people in the hills formed groups to fight against these enemies. This group wanted to create ancestry and heritage. These beliefs were developed and used in the basic structure if the organization. Atop of all stood the dons, or chiefs, who were the bosses of the Mafia groups in each village. They report to the don of dons, who live in the Capital. The capital of Sicily was Palermo. They were inducted into the Mafia through an oath which to this day says: A vow never to reveal any Mafia secrets or members under the threat of torture or death. Always help out fellow Mafia members. Avenge attacks on members of the family, because every sheep is part of our flock. Stay away from police and other government disciplinarians. In the 19th century the Mafia grew into a large criminal society. Creating the Mafias own forms of authority. The Mafia began to extort many people by handing out Black Hand notes, which been around since the 1700s. They hand out black notes to people requesting money in return for protection. The only people that these victims needed protection against were the same criminals who handed them these notes. Victims had to give the money up or else their families would be victims of violence, kidnapping, bombings, and murder. In 1876 Don Raffaele Pazzolo ran for political office to infect the Sicilian government with the Mafia. By having voters vote under gunpoint he reached his goal. He used his power to ge...