Mafia
The Italian-American mafia began at the time when many Italians moved to the United States in the 19th century. The first Italian mafia was in New Orleans in Louisiana but soon was in many cities across the country. The Italian mafia in the United States is actually called La Cosa Nostra, which in Italian means "our thing." The American mafia is divided into different groups, or "families."  Many large cities have only one Italian-American mafia family, but some larger cities like New York City have more.