To find out the true history of the Mafia, you have to trace it back to it's origins in Sicily, a small island off the tip of Italy. In the 9th century, the Island was under the control of the Arabs. To flee their occupiers, many citizens fled to the hills. Here, they formed groups for protection and mutual comfort. These groups, in many senses of the word, became a new "family" for the members. It was a way to seek refuge, and since the Arabic word for refuge is "Mafia", these groups became known as "Mafia".
By the 19th century, these families had turned into true crime organizations. They filled the island of Sicily with a heavy since of corruption and violence. The most common practice of these organizations was to hand out "Black Hand" notes. These notes, given to wealthy aristocracy on the island, indicated an amount of money to be given in exchange for protection. Of course, they were to be protected from the exact same people making the request, but that wasn't the point. The point was that those who didn't pay could count on kidnappings, violence against their families and businesses, and other nasty side effects.
The "don's", or leaders of these organizations soon had their hands on every aspect of life in Sicily. It was time to move past the boundaries of the island. And like it was for most people in Europe at that time, the answer was obviously America. America had been welcoming immigrants at an outstanding pace, and these criminals saw America as a Promised Land of money possibilities.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were Mafia in many of the countries major cities. Before long, they were dominating the Italian neighborhoods in all of these cities, and were starting to reach their grasp even further. Some of the cities to see this problem the worst were New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, and of course, New York City.
The 1920's saw the Mafia reach heights it never could have imagined. Bootlegging and prostitution was making millionaires out of men like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. It was about this time that a group Don's. Decided that it was time to form a group and organize the separate Mafia families on a national level like had never been seen before. This would be the beginning of The Syndicate.
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