1. The Mafia Were NOT Champions of the Weak, Downtrodden, and Exploited
The mafia were never champions of the weak who stuck it to the rich and powerful. Instead, Mafiosi were often hired as muscle by rich Sicilian landowners and magnates to intimidate or kill peasants who objected to their exploitation and de facto serfdom. When they made it to America, the mafia kept up their routine of goons for hire by the rich to keep downtrodden workers in their place. Mafiosi were routinely used as strikebreakers and to intimidate or kill union organizers, and cow working stiffs who sought better conditions or higher wages from their employers.
Mafiosi, in short, were not some modern equivalents of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, who stole from the rich to give to the poor – or at least stole from the rich, rather than the poor. Instead, they were closer to the Sheriff of Nottingham’s thugs. They helped further oppress the already oppressed, exploit the already exploited, and rob the already impoverished. The mob’s money making schemes and rackets seldom targeted the rich and powerful. Instead, Mafiosi enriched themselves at the expense of the weak and poor.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Annals of Crime – The Real Father of Organized Crime in America
Artsy – This Iconic American History Painting Gets the Facts Wrong
Bassinger, Jeanine – The Star Machine (2007)
Behr, Edward – Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America (1996)
Buzzfeed – 16 Strange and Surprising Facts About Medieval England
Capeci, Jerry – The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Mafia (2005)
Chernow, Ron – Washington: A Life (2011)
Daily Beast – For 50 Years ‘The Godfather’ Has Sold Us a Beautiful Lie
Encyclopedia Britannica – Montezuma II
Encyclopedia Britannica – Socrates
Encyclopedia Britannica – Thirty Tyrants
Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia – Trenton and Princeton Campaign (Washington’s Crossing)
Groves, Leslie R. – Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project (1983)
History Collection – The Events That Led to the Last Battle of the American Revolution
History Network – St. Patrick’s Day Legends and Myths Debunked
History Today – Americans Actually Work Way Harder Than Medieval Peasants
Ireland Calling – St Patrick Myths and Legends
JSTOR – The Mexica Didn’t Believe the Conquistadors Were Gods
Krentz, Peter – The Thirty Tyrants at Athens (1982)
Morrison, Donald R. – The Cambridge Companion to Socrates: Socrates and Democratic Athens (2010)
North American Review, Vol. 137, No. 323 (Oct. 1883) – The Saint Patrick Myth
Rhodes, Richard – The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986)
Royle, Trevor – Culloden: Scotland’s Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire (2016)
Time Magazine, June 9th, 2021 – We’ve Been Telling the Alamo Story Wrong for Nearly 200 Years
Vintage News – Modern American Works Longer Hours With Less Vacation Than Medieval Peasant
Waterfield, Robin – Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths (2009)
