The Honored society, or Mafia, as it was less often called, was a vast criminal brotherhood that developed in Palermo and western Sicily. It rose as a reaction to centuries of misrule. What distinguished the Mafia from similar groups was the pace at which it prospered and took over Sicilian society. By 1900, it controlled virtually the entire western third of the island. Members took control of all local governments in the city and assumed management of all factories and landed estates. Eventually, the migration of thousands of immigrants from Sicily to the U.S. would bring many members of The Honored Society to New York, and it's five boroughs. The Mafia would slowly take control of New York, Chicago, Nevada, Havana, and much more of the U.S.