Violence, blackmail and corruption as business terms, one would doubtfully consider them commonplace, but in the Mafia, nothing is. Looking at the history surrounding the Mafia, and the motivations apparent for its unconventional practices will lead one to realize that it is much more a union aimed at entrepreneurial success than the more common notion that it is simply a malicious group of amoral villains, anxious to wreak havoc. For decades the Italian-American Mafia has employed violent to achieve success in a capitalistic sense. The Mafia has changed a great deal since the days of the peasant uprisings in sun-baked Sicily. It has found a place within its ranks for business-school graduates, and it has adopted modern banking methods and invested in legitimate corporate ventures. The Mafia, also known as La Cosa Nostra, is generally composed of Italians or Italian-Americans that work together as entrepreneurial criminals. La Cosa Nostra literally means The thing ours but is loosely translated as our thing. The Mafia traces its roots back to Sicily, Italy in the 9th century AD when its purpose was to guard the feudal estates of wealthy landlords. When members of the Sicilian Mafia immigrated to the United States they initially excelled in extortion, but soon adopted gambling and prostitution as business ventures. In order to understand the role the Mafia has played in the United States, it is first necessary to study the formation and role of the Mafia in Italy. The Sicilian Mafia is said to have formed around the ninth century when Arabic tribes invaded Sicily. Native Italians were forced into hiding, taking to the hills and mountains in order to stay safe. The Sicilian Mafia formed to protect Italians from the invaders, and eventually rid the region of its unwelcome foreign foes. At this point, Mafiosi (individual members of the Mafia) essentially became middlemen for business transactions in their particular city ...
