The Five Families

     During the mafias prime in the 1930's, almost all mobsters claimed membership to one of the Five Families. Salvatore Maranzano formally organized the families. The Lucchese and Gambino families later teamed up to dictate control of organized crime in New York City. Originally known as one of the more peaceful families, the Lucchese family encountered a change of heart when Victor Amuso took charge of the family and ordered anyone who crossed his path to be murdered. Carlo Gambino led the Gambino family which is still prevalent to this day. Starting in 2011 the most recent boss of the Gambino family, Domenico Cefalu, took control. The Bonanno family boss attempted to take control of the Five Families in the 1960's but failed, and the family was forced to retire. The most powerful of the Five Families is the Genovese Family which is considered the "Ivy League" of mafia families, and is rivaled in size only by the Gambinos. The current boss of the Colombo family, Carmine Persico is serving life in prison to this day. Every mafia family is broken down into a strict and complex ruling hierarchy that is universal thought the Mafia. Below is a table summarizing the commonly accepted positions and their roles:

The Boss of the family. He controls everything that goes on in the mafia family. Every worker and lower ranking boss works for him. It is the boss who decides if someone should be killed or if someone should be initiated. The boss gets money from all of his workers and therefore is usually the richest person in the family.

The Underboss. The underboss is the person who actually runs the family. He is boss over all the other members except the actual boss. He will often become the boss of the family if something happens to the boss. The boss will choose who his underboss is. A family will usually have only one underboss.

The Consigliere. Consigliere is an Italian term meaning someone who gives advice. The consigliere in a mafia family is the "right hand man" to the boss. It is his job to help the boss make important decisions. Acts as a middle man in personal vendettas. His role is to make impartial decisions for the family's benefit.

Caporegimes. The next position of the family is caporegime (or captain). Families will have differing numbers of capos. A caporegime is in charge of a group of workers. The underboss of the family is in charge of the capos. He is in charge of collecting all monies. 

Soldiers. The workers of a family are called "soldiers". Their job is to earn money to give to their captain. They will do any job asked of them by their captain or the boss or underboss. A family can have anywhere from 10 to 1000 soldiers.


-Keenan Fleming and Xander Norman

Mafia Migration to the U.S.

     At the end of the 19th century, Guiseppe Esposito, became the fist known mafia member to migrate to the  United States. He and six other Sicilian members fled to New York after becoming too high profile to remain in Italy. Following in these individuals footsteps, many other mafia bosses moved their families and the business that came with them to the U.S. to enhance their possible profits. Developing into the Five Points Gang, the Sicilian mafia began to gain a foothold, and dominate New York City. Soon after, the Prohibition Era began, creating an optimal environment for the mafia to flourish. This led to an onslaught of Sicilian mobsters coming to America, and the expansion of the mafia into many of the major cities in the U.S.

-Keenan Fleming and Xander Norman

History of the Sicilian Mafias

     The very first mafias originated in the Italian town of Sicily. Each "cosca" or clan operated a certain territory and racketeered the area for profit. Mafia boss Francesco Cuccia became enemies with Benito Mussolini once Mussolini declined his protection. After the reign of Mussolini, the different mafia groups began to form and vie for control of Italy. Through the use of mafias, a small minority of people could control masses through terror and crime. The mafias wreaked havoc on Italy and as they became more powerful and  attained more members, many dominant mobster families expanded into other regions. At the time, America was a rapidly developing country, and many mafioso sought to take advantage of the newly available opportunities.

-Xander Norman and Keenan Fleming

What is the Mafia?

     Mafias are organized crime institutions that operate in secrecy. They can have control over nearly every aspect of life; from petty neighborhood crime, to complete influence over government proceedings. At their peak, in the mid- nineteen hundreds, there were several prominent mafia families operating within growing cities of the United States.The mafias rise to power was stimulated by the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. They dominated the bootlegging industry and gained so much power/ profit that they began to take hold of the American government. At the core of every mafia's actions was one thing- money. So once the ban on alcohol was lifted the mafias expanded the criminal activities to illegal gambling operations, loan sharking, extortion, and drug trafficking.

-Keenan Fleming and Xander Norman