Bootlegging Rebellion

Prohibition was a period of 14 years of American history in which the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol was made illegal. As it became illegal, people wanted it more. All over America people were drinking illegal alcohol. The alcohol would be smuggled in from the Caribbean or from Canada. The gangsters would then open up bars (speakeasies) for people to come in and drink. The gangsters saw this as a chance for them to earn money as people wanted the alcohol. These bars were often searched for by prohibition agents and the aim was for them to get shut down. The majority of these agents were under qualified and underpaid therefore the gangsters

Once the organized crime families were established they were the main contributors to the illegal “Bootlegging” of alcohol. During the 20’s there was a great deal of violent crimes. Most of them could be connected back to the organized crime families. Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone was a gangster who led illegal activities such as the smuggling and the bootlegging of alcohol during the prohibition. Even though he had a tough exterior he was a caring man he was the first to open up a soup kitchen in Chicago (hammer). Capone’s estimated annual revenue was around 100 million dollars. He had many men working for him such as Frank Nitti, August Pisano and Louis Morganno. He supplied Chicago with most of its alcohol. (Capone: the man and his era).

    Prohibition caused gangs and organized crime to thrive in the 1920’s. Big gangsters made fortunes off of bootlegging, or the illegal make and distribution of alcohol, and speakeasies, illegal clubs or bars that sold alcohol. Al Capone of Chicago was one of the most well known gangsters of the time. He made up to $60 million dollars annually bootlegging and running speakeasies

When caught bootlegging liquor you would be issued a fine, this made things alright because everyone was happy, the laws were so hard to enforce that the government was just happy collecting fine money and the bootleggers were happy cause it was a small price to pay for the amount of money they were making. The most ironic thing about prohibition is that it is the major bases for what we call organized crime.

The main cause of Prohibition was religious views coming into the light. Groups such as the Protestant Evangelical had many views similar to all the others when it came to alcoholic beverages. The only difference is that when it came down to it the Evangelical were more likely to help clean up a person who was used to over drinking, this was not the case of Temperance groups. They felt that they had more of an obligations to help the children and wives whose lives had been affected by what they called “drunkards”. Although there was this big difference between the two it did not stop them from coming together to try and fix what they felt needed fixing. These religious groups had the idea that they would start with cleaning up people and then move on to their idea of helping the whole nation. To try and change people's lives the Evangelicals would state verses from the

The contributing factor to the sudden increase of felonies was the organization of crime, especially in large cities. Because liquor was no longer legally available, the public turned to gangsters who readily took on the bootlegging industry and supplied them with liquor. Most speak-easies were owned by bootlegging mobsters. On account of the industry being so profitable, more gangsters became involved in the money-making business. Crime became so organized because "criminal groups organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol" (Thorton, 13). As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much rival between gangs. The profit motive caused over four hundred gang related murders a year in Chicago alone (Stack, 4). Prohibition actually enabled organised crime to grow and in an effort to stay in

It was illegal even to transport the alcoholic beverages from one place to another. Often there would be high-speed chases in order to out run the police during the prohibition era. Mobsters made profit off of the alcohol. Various people took over cities and soon became a war on other bosses and cities. Violence started to take in place making guns shootings murders more often. for example for al Capone to survive this he spent almost half of his money earned from bootlegging profit on body guards. A lot of mafia related gangs were killing each other over

At the same time, why did the US introduce prohibition? Two years after the World War One ended the US government was in a huge debt. Vaguely, congress thought it would be a good idea to ban alcohol since it supposedly causes Americans problems. Such as domestic abuse of women and angered congress, because people rather spend money on alcohol than war bonds. This ban of alcohol would be later called and enforced by the 18th amendment. However, as time went on with the amendment in place Americans began to realize that it was pointless to ban alcohol. The only thing that came out of banning alcohol was retaliation, hypocritical congressmen, and the increase of killing.

Prohibition began with the ratification of the 18th amendment stating,”…the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors…for beverage purpose is hereby prohibited.”(Constitution). In fact the Prohibition Act was effective in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed by the public; it, however, trigger an up-roar of organized criminal activity like the Mafia during the Prohibition movement.

Prohibition was a period of time in which the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. It started January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 1933. Although it was designed to put an end to all drinking, it simply created a large number of bootleggers who produced and sold illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol and also through other methods. They pioneered the practices of organized crime that are still used today. Thus, Prohibition led to the rapid growth of organized crime.

In the 1920s, America began to experience a lot of modernization with the era of prohibition, lively spirited flappers, and a clash between science and religion. Just after World War I, Americans had to make the hard transition from farm life, to work in the cities. Life in the cities was very different from the small life in small towns. With many immigrants in America, city life offered Americans change socially with its tolerance with drinking, gambling and dating life. Just after World War I, prohibition to manufacture, sell, and transport alcohol took place because of the Eighteenth Amendment.

In 1929 Capone and his gang dressed up as police and murdered 7 members of an opposing gang, which is now known as the ‘St. Valentine’s day massacre’. It was at this point where it became apparent that things had gotten out of hand, and some say it was this event which essentially led to the end of the prohibition.

Prohibition created a huge push for alcohol which really sparked a want for refreshments and to party. Alcohol consumption started to increase as people rebelled against the 18th amendments. This increase in the consumption of alcohol led to

Because liquor was no longer legally available, the public turned to gangsters who took on the bootlegging industry and supplied them with liquor. Because the industry was so immensely profitable, more gangs participated. As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much

Some states such as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts did not enforce the prohibition act of 1920, causing funds to drop to the states for law enforcement agencies(GILDER). The prohibition Caused the rise of organized crime in the United States. Prohibition stated the creation of toxic moonshine, bootleggers used lead coils and lead soldering putting lead in moonshine(PEARSON). Others put additives in moonshine such as iodine and creosote causing blindness or even death. Over 12,000 people died from toxic moonshine Al Capone made over 60 million dollars from Bootlegging that’s 60 million dollars other US citizens lose. Many Bootleggers used Industrial alcohol in Products. The Federal Government started putting more poisonous chemicals in industrial alcohol causing over 10,000 deaths from consumption(PEARSON).Overall there are more negative effects of prohibition in the 1920’s. From poisonous alcohol to enforcement budget cuts it is all negative and is why prohibition failed. Even though prohibition stopped some americans from drinking alcohol it created a new door for new kinds of alcohol to come in to the US. Prohibition is bad in my opinion because it caused unnecessary deaths in america. That sets a final ending to the 18th Amendment in the 1920’s and forever