The Black Hand

The alien conspiracy theory argues that organized crime in American society evolved in a linear fashion beginning with the Mafia in Sicily, emerging in the form of the Black Hand in America's immigrant colonies, and culminating in the development of the Cosa Nostra in America's urban centers. This research challenges the alien conspiracy theory by reviewing the history of Black Hand activity in the city of Chicago and argues that the development of Black Hand extortion was not related to the emergence of the Sicilian Mafia but was rooted in the social structure of American society.