ebooks The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: The Complete Illustrated History by Benjamin Franklin in History

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'This American system of ours;' observed Al Capone; 'call it Americanism; call it capitalism; call it what you like; gives to each and every one of us a great opportunity if we can only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.' Capone spoke as a member of a generation who; seizing the opportunities offered by the Eighteenth Amendment of the US Constitution; which prohibited the manufacture; transport; or sale of alcoholic beverages; enriched himself and laid the basis for modern organized crime in America. Yet if the story of the eminent gangsters is not the orthodox; rags-to-riches American success story; neither can it be dismissed as merely a crime story; a morality play where evil doers are brought to justice by the forces of law and order. Their story; rather; is a central and significant chapter in the social and economic history of modern America.