Causes Of Prohibition In America

On January 16 of 1920, The 18th amendment went into effect. The 18th amendment restricted the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages. Prohibition, as this time came to be known, did not end until December 5, 1933, when the 21st amendment was passed and ratified, ending National Prohibition. Supporters of Prohibition believed that it would help control social problems and economic problems as well. What Prohibition did was the totally opposite, Prohibition became a failure. Prohibition led to an increase in organize crime because violent criminals rose to powers, alcoholic-related crimes increased, and more politicians and police officials became corrupt.

“For those Americans who did not want to go to the effort of making their own liquor, an army of bootleggers, moonshiners, and rumrunners was available to supply the nation with all the booze its citizens could drink” (Hanson). Americans could just buy alcohol from bootleggers, moonshiners, and rumrunners if they did not want to make it themselves because they could find an alcohol seller anywhere. “The Eighteenth Amendment was intended to reduce drinking by abolishing the businesses that made and sold alcohol: breweries, distillers, winemakers, wholesale sellers, and retail establishments such as saloons” (Hanson). The Eighteenth Amendment was made to stop alcohol from getting on the streets but it did no use so they got rid of the Eighteenth Amendment. The temperance movement and the prohibition on alcohol helped stop most of the drinking in the United States of America.

Prohibition was passed as the 18th amendment, that importing, exporting, transporting, and manufacturing of alcohol was to be put to an end. Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems that it intended to solve. It was expected that the decrease in alcohol consumption would in turn reduce crime, poverty, death rates, improve the economy, and the quality of life.

In 1919, The US ratified the 18th Amendment which is declared illegal to manufacture, transport, and sell alcoholic beverages. Between from 1920 to 1933 America has promulgated prohibition who drunk because most men drunk in most times even during break time off work. They gradually lost their control and taking abuse, crime on their children. A lot of problems happened in the family like violence, fighting, and the worse thing is the divorce. Drunken men who did not work at all would not be able to afford, provide, and care for their families. America repealed Prohibition for three main reasons during this time: the Volstead Act because it was a law, the act of Congress that helped to prevent people from selling alcohol, illegal but it failed, Progressive Movement because it showed how many serious problems happened behind drinking that affected to life, and social evils of drinking. While there are three main causes, the most significant cause the repeal of Prohibition in America was social evils or consequences of drinking because in (Doc. B) homicides increased which made crime raised and thousands of Americans killed, the scenes of the US government (Doc.D) because the governor violated the law, and depression (Doc. A) because Uncle Sam, the US government worked with gangsters, racketeer, bootlegger, and dope seller.

Between 1900 and 1913 more Americans began to drink more and more alcohol with the production of beer jumping from 1.2 million to 2 billion gallons; three times more alcohol than the average American drinks now.1 Prohibition was a movement sparked by women since women thought they were the ones who suffered the most from the cause of alcohol and women though that alcohol was a threat to a happy family. Women wanted to pass prohibition because many men would go to saloons and go home and be abusive towards their wives and children. Women and other groups eventually got 46 of the 48 states to ratify the 18th amendment on January 16, 1919.2 The 18th amendment on article one says, "...the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited."3 The first article on the 18th amendment is saying that the sale, making, or even bringing liquor into the United States or any of the United States' territory will now be illegal. Prohibition began to show its weakness right away when the United Sates government did not show much support. After the first year of prohibition the American people started to show less support and even led to organized crime. In 1933, the United States Constitution was amended to repeal the 18th amendment in the form of the 21st amendment.4 Even

In the beginning of the Prohibition Era, the supporters of the alcohol ban were met with a pleasing decline in arrest for drunkenness, hospitalizations related to alcohol and the fall of liver related medical problems that were caused by the consumption of alcohol. These statistics seemed to support the tireless campaigning done to prohibit alcohol. This decline in alcohol

The Prohibition Era was a period of time when the entire nation was expected to be alcohol-free, or “dry”. In January 1919, prohibitionists achieved the ratification of the eighteenth amendment to the constitution, “forbidding the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors.” The activists in the Temperance Movement had lobbied and pushed for this ratification for decades. Temperance activists consisted of women, church members, and employers. The main concern was centered around the idea that liquor made alcoholics and irresponsible people. The widespread support for the liquor ban was reflected in its approval by more

In 1919 the Constitution of the United States issued the 18th amendment, enforced into law as the National Prohibition Act of 1920. Prohibition is the banning of the manufacture, sale, and possession of alcohol, including beer and wine. This amendment was repealed with the passing of the 21st amendment to the constitution, allowing the possession of alcohol in the United States. In the City of Washington on Monday, December 5th, 1932 the 21st amendment document included the reestablished rights of the citizens restricted by the 18th amendment. (Appendix II) The 18th amendment was the first and only amendment repealed by the constitution, allowing people to possess, sell, and buy their own alcohol.

Saloons outnumbered “schools, libraries, and churches” by 1909. Also, there was a greater understanding of the harmful effects of excess alcohol use on health from medical professionals. Politically, “taverns were controlled by brewers” such as Anheuser-Busch or the liquor trusts (Temperance Movement in the 1900’s). Concerns of excess alcohol consumption brought about a climate of social awareness and calls for change in the early

Prohibition advocates did an impressive job of convincing the American public that alcohol was the root and cause of all their problems. Alcohol was the reason why families were destroyed, why women and children were beaten and why cheques never arrived home. Pro-prohibition posters were used to target men who knew they had a responsibility to look after their families. The news of prohibition also gave the chance for women to defend themselves and preach their rights since many felt that they had been victimized by alcohol. Not only was prohibition trying to target family members but it also challenged the patriotism of fellow Americans. When WWI came about, although it was at that moment a major topic to discuss, prohibitionists saw the war as an opportunity to give back to their brave soldiers by giving up alcohol. Slogans such as “Booze or Coal?” and organized efforts to preserve grain were used to persuade Americans to believe that patriotism and abstinence went hand in hand (Michael Lerner). In fact of August of 1917, the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act put a hold on beer and wine production, as well as prohibiting the sale of beer that contained more than 2.75 percent of alcohol (Michael Lerner). Many prohibition advocates, such as Reverend Billy Sunday, were effective through their speeches in convincing Americans that alcohol and the establishments associated with alcohol were pure evil and went against the morale of the American people.

The 18th amendment made made the manufacture, sale, distribution, and consumption of alcohol illegal. This amendment was a huge failure because it causes people to go behind the laws back and drink illegally. There was a secret drinking establishment called speakeasies and there were also people who provided alcohol illegally and they were called bootleggers. The act that enforced prohibition was the volstead act.

This is an important reason as to why the Prohibition movement gained so much momentum and support. With violence and crimes rates raised, many people feared the domestic sphere and the well-being of women and children in families. Many of these people blamed alcohol and pushed for prohibition. Of these supporters, Protestants play a large role. In a pro-prohibition newspaper from Milwaukee, a minister says, “deliverance will come… from the… unspoiled and unpoisoned by the wine-tinted, beer-sodden, whiskey-crazed, sabbath-desecrated, God-defying and anarchy-breeding,” [Doc H]. The Protestants believed that alcohol was the root of evil, and violence came from abusing it. As Protestantism had a major influence over much of the nation, preachers and women as well were able to speak to the members of the church about the issues they saw in using alcohol. They were able to use sermons and fiery speeches about how the devil tormented people through turning away from Christ and to the whiskey bottle. Spreading knowledge and opinions through religion is a large reason why Prohibition was supported by so many people, and was successfully

The early 1900s were a turbulent time in the history of the United States. In a brief span of time there were two World Wars, The Great Depression, Prohibition, and the women's suffrage movement. With all these events taking place within years of each other, or simultaneously changing our history, it is hard to isolate a single event to analyze. Yet, it must be done. In order to influence the future, we must first understand the past. The author Edmund Burke once said, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." The events of Prohibition are just as relevant in today's society as they were at that time. So how did Prohibition affect history? The Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s had significant negative effects and caused crime rates to rise at that time.

     Prohibition had become an issue long before its eventual induction as the 18th amendment in 1920. Organizations came about for the sole purpose of an alcohol free America. In 1833, an estimated one million Americans belonged to some type of temperance association (Behr 12). Many believed the absence of alcohol would help the poor as well as big business. Lower class people would put more money into savings accounts and productivity would increase among workers (Hanson 27). More importantly the “noble experiment”—was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, and improve the health and hygiene in America” (Thorton 1).

“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty,