Crime During The Prohibition Era

During the 1920s, organised crime was a major issue plaguing federal authorities, as well as the American people. This took place in most big cities across the United States, particularly in Chicago, Illinois, where gangsters such as Al Capone, Bugs Moran and Johnny Torrio dominated all aspects of life. However, at this time, authorities also faced problems from the government through corruption and scandalous actions.

Another misconception I had was that gangsters/mobsters controlled only corrupt policemen and judges when in fact, they controlled people at all levels of the government, occasionally even the president. Important characters like president James K. Polk, the Kennedy’s, and several senators had a relationship with Irish American gangsters that contributed to the politician as well as the gangster’s success. Their strongest relationships though, were with the police force. Becoming a policeman was encouraged by the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants because “who better to take on the dangerous, low-paying job than a Paddy?” (61) And so, Irishmen who often had grown up with famous mobsters ended up as the majority of the police force; mobsters not only gained more power in the local area due to this, but the stage was now set for corruption at all levels as well.

After Prohibition in the 1900s when alcohol was banned and illegal to sell or make alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and liquor. People thought that alcohol was the leading cause of all social problems, unemployment, poverty, business failure, crimes, slums, violence, illnesses, and the destruction of families and moral corruption. While all of this was happening in the 1900s now today in the 21st century we have the same similarities between the new era of Prohibition the war on drugs and the Prohibition era in the 1900s. Today we are faced with the same problems with the war on drugs. Though some people have different ideas and thoughts and might not agree with what I will say about the new era of Prohibition I still think otherwise.

As I became older and a more advanced reader, my preference for books changed. When I was in Elementary School, nonfiction books were uncharted-territory; I would never dare or even attempt to read them. Whenever I went to a library, I would immediately zoom over to the realistic fiction and fantasy books and completely ignore nonfiction. This changed in Sixth Grade. My English teacher, Ms. Oshman had put multiple nonfiction books on display. I hadn’t been able to find a book that I had enjoyed recently, so out of sheer curiosity, I picked up a book titled “Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition” by Karen Blumenthal. I only read a few pages, but I was fascinated. Then, I stopped only checking fantasy and fiction books, and

Law is not always effective in deterring morality and behavior but will often have the opposite reaction. The eighteenth amendment is known as the Volstead Act of 1919, which many knew it as the prohibition era. During the Prohibition era, the manufacture and sale of alcohol became illegal. This era came to be because rural Americans saw liquor as an instrument of the devil. This movements desire wanted to shape public morality and control erratic behavior around the U.S. First of many attempts to legislate morality in America.

From 1920 to 1933 the government had prohibited the making, selling, and consumption of alcohol. The general population was torn. Some people agreed and some did not. Those who opposed the Prohibition rebelled against the law. The Prohibition brought organized crime, bootlegging, corrupt police forces, speakeasies, and drastic economic effects.

The first night after the Prohibition ended, American drinkers delighted to be back with liquors without any hindrance. Beers are everywhere, champagne corks popped and dozens of glasses clinked in to celebrate their sober sovereignty. Clearly, the Prohibition was quite unsuccessful public policy passed in 1930’s.

In Detroit, Michigan rumrunners or bootleggers had risen during the 1920 due to the National “dry” period. During the first year of law enforcement, the number of drunkenness arrested were doubled. (Hall, 2014, p.85) The crime rate had reflected the effectiveness of national prohibition instantly and bootlegging had done serious impact to both economics and society.

Within this imbalance of supply and demand, gangsters saw profit.” . Organized crime started to rise because gangsters wanted money and they noticed that people needed alcohol, finally they came to the idea of selling alcohol illegally. Sometimes there were even government officials that would help control gangsters control bootlegging. As organized crime grew, more and more cities were becoming dangerous. “Of all the nation’s big cities, the most hostile to Prohibition and most openly defiant of the law was Chicago” . Chicago was once a great city but it eventually turned into a place filled with gangsters and illegal alcohol. In Chicago there were some of the most powerful organized crime leaders that led major gangs and illegal alcohol trade during the years of prohibition.

when they did than, it made so many people mad they continued making all the bad things anyway but secretly and caused a crime wave. The crime wave was people doing things like, making secret bars in basements of little shops.

During the prohibition beer sales rose seven hundred percent more than before (“Prohibition”). Many people wanted to have a prohibition, but many people also did not want to have it. Many people nowadays think that the prohibition was not needed; to some groups though they thought that alcohol created crime, illness, and bad morals for men. Most people drank different kinds of alcohol in different kinds hidden places.

I agree with you in saying, that I believe alcohol is a drug. Alcohol can impair its user reducing their ability to think rationally and with extended use can cause disease and death. As did you, I really do not think that there needs to be more stringent controls on alcohol consumption. Prohibition was a failure and it was proven that people will always find a way to get alcohol, no matter the circumstances.”There is no question that the Volstead Act was widely violated and that smuggling, moonshining, and speakeasies all thrived during the Prohibition era”. Instead of controls in a sense the public should take greater responsibility with their actions in reference to alcohol consumption. Consumers need to be more responsible for their actions

When we take a look into the history of not only our country, but countries all over the world, we see a common pattern. When the majority of the population is against something, it is made illegal. However, we know that this doesn’t take the problem away, but instead drives it underground. One of the greatest examples of this is Prohibition. From the years 1920 into the early 1930’s, America decided to make the selling and purchasing of alcoholic beverages illegal. Which resulted in, driving the entire business underground and crime rates all over America shot up. When alcohol was made legal again, it entirely took away the black market for it. Today, although alcohol is still consumed regularly, it is no longer surrounded by crime. We can

40% of all people who are incarcerated for a violent offense were under the influence of alcohol when they committed the crime. Alcohol causes many problems in our society today. This is why we need prohibition. People have been arguing about prohibition since 1920 when the US government added the eighteenth amendment to the constitution. The amendment was removed because of the inability to prevent illegal alcohol drinking on a nationwide scale. Some say that alcohol gives people a sense of relief and that it helps people forget about reality's problems. You may think that alcohol is a good thing because it makes people happy. However, we need prohibition because alcohol can severely damage your health, is a financial burden on families, and increases violent crime.

When the strict religious values began to weaken after the revolution, The Second Great Awakening began. With the movement came new religious sects and a fiery zeal for god. But most importantly, it also brought attempts to create a utopian society “God’s kingdom on earth”, this would be done by fighting injustices and evils on earth. Although the prohibition movement had wide ranging future social impacts, the most important reform movements in Antebellum America were the feminist movement, which first advocated for equality in education, the movement for public education, which created the foundation for a nation of good citizens, and most importantly, the abolition movement, which pushed sectionalism to its breaking point by challenging the institution of slavery.