Golden Twenties Urbanization

“In January of 1920 the American government banned the sale and supply of alcohol, the government thought that this would curb crime and violence, prohibition did not achieve it’s goals, leading more toward higher crime rates and excessive violence.” The prohibition made bootlegging, the illegal trade and sale of alcohol a popular activity among the Mafia and other gangs. The distribution of alcohol turned out to be more complex than other criminal activities. Gangs attempted to secure large territories where they could establish a monopoly of

In 1917 was the point in history where Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to amend the Constitution which stated that it prohibited the export, import, manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. This law sparked rebellion in American citizens across the nation; many people thought this law violated their right to live by their own standards. The implementation of the 18th amendment created a large number of bootleggers who were able to supply the public with illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol, gambling and using other methods. The prohibition era allowed for organized crime to flourish and these practices are still used today.

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution restricted the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. The United States decided to pass the amendment because they believed that alcohol was often responsible for crime, poverty, and violence against women and children. Since people could not legally buy alcohol from stores, they turned to bootlegging. This meant that they would make, distribute, or sell illicit goods, especially liquor, illegally. Many cities prospered from bootlegging, such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago, but they suffered from it as well. The national American crime syndicate, the Mafia, arose out of the coordinated activities of Italian bootleggers and other gangsters in New York City in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In New York, almost 75% of the state's revenue was from liquor taxes. With prohibition in effect, the revenue was lost immediately. At the national level,

National Prohibition was defended as a war measure. Many people argues that grain should be made into bread for fighting men and not for making liquor. Unsuccessfully, the brewing industry argues that taxes on liqour were paying more for the war effort than the liberty bonds were. Even after prohibition was enacted many diiferent ethnities viewed beer and or wine drinking as an integral part of their culture. The wording of the 18th Amendment said that people could not manufacture and sell alcohol but it said nothing about the possession, consumption or transportation of alcohol which led to a lot of other problems. Enforcing the law would cost $300 million during the nineteen hundreds that would have been a lot of money, not that it isn’t now, but it would have been nearly impossible to pay. Smuggling and bootlegging were widespread. In New York there were seven thousand arrests for liqour law violations resulted in 17 convictions. Originally Enforcement of Prohibition was assigned to the Internal Revenue Service or better known as the (IRS). In 1930, enforcement transferred to the Justice Department. The main reason Prohibition failed is because it is unenforceable. By 1925, at least half a dozen states, including New York, passed laws BANNING local police from investigating violations. Prohibition also had very little support in the cities of the Northeast and

The Roaring Twenties were also known the Jazz Age and the Golden Twenties. The 1920s were an age of dramatic economic prosperity, social and political changes. This was the first time that more Americans lived in the cities than on farms. The nation’s wealth more than doubled in the 1920s and this economic boom swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” During the 20s it seemed as though everyone had money and people began to break from the traditional set-up in America. In the 20s there were technological advancements, new freedoms, mass production, mass consumption and new American writers. All of these changes made life a little better for most Americans in the United States.

With the 18th amendment passed came about a new era, an era where the government was unable to enforce the laws. The 18th amendment had banned alcohol creation and consumption. The reason the amendment was passes was because workers became addicted to liquor ultimately becoming ineffective workers. The 18th amendment gave young desperate men the chance to make big money selling liquor. Eventually selling liquor will become the gateway for these men to becoming gangsters. Through the years of the Prohibition three men would lead the gangster into a new style of organized crime unseen ever before. Al Capone, Dutch Schultz and Charles "Lucky" Luciano became the big three gangsters that led the era into a new direction of organized crime.

One significant social change of the 1920s was the social status and behavior of women. For example, as seen in Document 6, the women of the 1920s drastically changed their attire from full length dresses that covered most of their bodies to shorter dresses that came up to or above the knee. They also began showing their arms and chest. Their demeanors also changed, in that they were becoming much more vocal about their opinions and thoughts. For example, Document 5 explains the political changes that resulted from the outspokenness of many women. They gained the right to vote in 1920 and continued to lobby for laws and rights that would benefit women and children. The women were asking for equal rights and treatment, and were also gaining the right to serve on juries and hold public office. In addition, women were becoming organized in

The Roaring twenties was a time of growth and prosperity. A time of groups making music inspiring and amazing people all over the nation. It was also a prosperous time for mobs and gangsters. The year was 1918, and everyone thought the dangers of having unlimited access to liquor and Alcohol were over but no one knew that this would be a time of great rise of mobsters and gangs all around the darkest corners of cities in the United States.

The Roaring Twenties was a massive time of change in America. Many people went from a conservative lifestyle to futuristic lifestyle. They changed the way they lived, worked, looked, and the way they did things. The numerous soldiers came back from World War I had influential behaviors which many Americans partook in. Americans had seemed to find a new type of freedom, which they used to their fullest advantages.

Many of the reformers agreed that outlawing liquor would reduce poverty, crime, and unemployment, resulting in this amendment. However, the exact opposite happened, lots of crime eventually took place after the 18th amendment. Mainly men protested this Prohibition, as the started an organization known as the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA). These men protested by engaging in illegal activities and violently. Prohibition gave “American gangsters” the opportunity for organized crime as they took over the importing ("bootlegging"), manufacturing, and distributing of alcoholic drinks. Al Capone, one of the most infamous bootleggers of them all, he built his criminal empire largely on profits from illegal alcohol. Instead, alcohol became more dangerous to consume; organized crime blossomed; courts and prison systems became overloaded; and endemic corruption of police and public officials occurred. Alcohol was smuggled in from Canada in large quantities, overland and via the Great Lakes. It was a lot simpler to smuggle items back in the 1920's than it is

Prohibition created a nation of criminals. Bootleggers, moonshiners, and gangsters were all united under the same reason, to profit from flow of alcohol. With Prohibition

“Alcohol didn’t cause the high crime rate of the ‘20s and ‘30s, prohibition did. And drugs do not cause today’s alarming crime rates, but drug prohibition does”( Badnarik). Although Congress had great intentions by banning alcohol and drugs, it made living in America that much more difficult. The passage of the 18th amendment contributed to the rise of illegal activities carried out by organized crime syndicates.

The 1920s have been remembered as the “Roaring Twenties” as they brought an economic buoyancy and allowed many people to afford the things they most desired, bringing a cultural upgrading. This was brought on by a number of factors, and made it an era to remember.

The “Roaring Twenties” the climax of the United States history, such a thriving era that would quickly vanish and become the lowest of the low. A time of a country at its peak only to be lowered to the lowest it has ever been, there is no other name more suitable for the 1920’s. Roaring by definition is a deep long cry, in the 1920’s there was definitely both cries of happiness and devastation, the name Roaring twenties chosen by Howard Zinn is a very fitting name,the economy was booming, the country faced political progress and advancement, new art and music that now mark the “Jazz Age” during the 1920’s was created, however immigration had become very controlled and limited, hatred groups were revived, and the famous stock market crash would forever stain the Roaring 20’s.

to have the intended effect of eliminating crime and other social problems–to the contrary, it led