Moonshine Research Paper

Gangsters provided to the public what they needed at the time. Laura Beshears believes that “crime became as organized and structured as most legal business in the 1920s because gangsters took their economic role to be provision of goods and services that society demanded even though supplying those good and services was against the law ”. It was clear that people neither wanted Prohibition nor would people respect it. There was a huge market that opened in the 1920s for what it was an illegal commodity then. One of the gangs to take advantage of Prohibition was the Purple Gang. They were Detroit’s most notorious gang during prohibition. According to Robert Rockaway, “The major source of the gang’s income was bootlegging. The Purples controlled several blind pigs (illegal bars) and gambling houses as Detroit boomed during prohibition. In 1923 there was 7,000 [illegal bars] in the city. By 1925, the number had risen to 15,000; three years later, that figure stood at 25,000” . Criminals, such as the Purple Gang, did not care about what the law said about the consumption of alcohol and they became the major distributors who provided this commodity. Had Prohibition never happened, organize crime syndicates may have not grown to become wealthy and powerful as they were because providing alcohol was the major source of income for them. Prohibition opened the doors for the criminals who were looking to take advantage of the

The prohibition caused much controversy in the 1920’s. The 18th amendment was passed on Jan 16, 1920, it said in Title II, Section 3 the National Prohibition Act states that "No person shall on or after the date when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in this act." (United States constitution). The Prohibition opened up many big business opportunities in the illegal marketing of alcohol. The people who took advantage of this opportunity were known as “Bootleggers”. With the enactment of this law organized crime was established, allowing men such as Al Capone to capitalize

NASCAR is one of the most rapidly growing sports in the world. There are people who think that NASCAR is just a bunch of hicks going around in circles, but it takes skill to drive at two-hundred miles per hour. I am going to talk about the history of NASCAR, early drivers of NASCAR, the three NASCAR divisions, the rules, and the new technology.

"A 1999 survey of sports sponsors by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal ranked NASCAR No. 1 in licensing, promotional opportunities, retail tie-ins, client endorsements and media coverage--ahead of the NFL, NBA and Professional Golf Association" (Advertising Age, Sc 1).

Smuggling alcohol was a very lucrative business for the unscrupulous. In order to ease the transportation, smugglers switched from beer and wine to hard liquor because it was more concentrated easier to hide. Since illegal liquor production was a black market, producers did not have to worry about government regulations when considering what to put into their drinks. In addition, many bootleggers were new to the game and did not know what they were doing. Many ended up accidentally producing poisonous liquor.

Bootlegging is the making, selling and distribution of illegal goods such as alcohol. Many things lead into bootlegging but the main cause was the passing of prohibition. Bootlegging became a worldwide crisis in certain situations such as the critical rise of crime rates. There were many crimes, or criminal investigations that went on during the time of prohibition such as bootlegging, gang violence, and the modifications of cars to run from police also known as “rum-running.” It was a time of drastic criminal activity. There were many after effects of bootlegging such as the United States gaining a corrupt government, and

    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

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 Brown’s Landing property and adjoining rural properties also were havens for illegal moonshine stills in the first decades of the 20th century. The homegrown whiskey operations, which flourished on the then-remote western edge of present-day Port Orange, would have attracted law-enforcement attention. Moonshine wasn’t legal in the U.S. until 2010.

The huge public demand for alcohol led to a soaring business for bootleggers. When prohibition began, people immediately wanted a way to drink. Hence, the extremely profitable bootlegging business was born. Before Prohibition gangs existed, but had little influence. Now, they had gained tremendous power almost overnight. Bootlegging was easy - New York City gangs paid hundreds of poor immigrants to maintain stills in their apartments. Common citizens, once law abiding, now became criminals by making their own alcohol. However, this posed risks for those who made their own. "The

Prohibition was the prevention by law of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, especially in the United States between 1920 and 1933. In August 1919, the U.S. Senate voted by an overwhelming 65-20 count to approve the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned alcohol in the United States. On December 18, 1917 the House of Representatives followed as 70 percent of its members voted in favor as well. At midnight on January 16, 1920, the consumption, sale, and transportation of alcohol became illegal. January 17 would be the first full day of prohibition in the United States.

The American Mafia rose to power during the prohibition. They gained most of their power by entering the bootlegging business, and ended up becoming a huge

They became rich and powerful by providing speakeasies and others who were willing to buy their alcohol. Some bootleggers got their alcohol from other countries. “The first large-scale organized criminal activity of the Prohibition Era was smuggling…The manufacture, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages were perfectly legal in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean,” (Cohen). During the Roaring Twenties, someone who bought alcohol from other countries had to smuggle the alcoholic beverages inside the country. “As soon as Prohibition went into effect there was a dramatic increase in Mexican imports of scotch whiskey from Britain. The Mexicans weren't drinking more; eventually all of this whiskey made its way north across the border” (Cohen). 0Bootleggers were powerful and rich and became one of the biggest reasons for the increase of organized crime in the Era of Prohibition.

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

Bootlegging brought in many great profits (Sifakis 111). Al Capone, a famous Italian-American gangster, made about $60 million from bootlegging (725). The gangs established illegal distilleries and breweries. Some gangs even produced their own alcohol to keep a steady supply of it for themselves (111). More than one million gallons of bootleg alcohol had been illegally brought into the United States by the late 1920s. Bootlegging even occurred within the United States because even though alcohol was illegal, the process of it was not (Organized Crime and Prohibition 1). Bootleg alcohol had begun being