Prohibition Essay

America changed its mind about prohibition for many reasons. Some were for the better, and most were for the worse. Prohibition lasted a long time and it brought out the worst in our country. More gangs were created, more violence, and more crime, all because alcohol was banned.

“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.

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

There have been many influential events and time periods in history which have directly affected America today such as prohibition and “bootlegging.” The era of prohibition began on January 29th, 1920(Rebman9). Prohibition influenced many things such as the ratification of the 18th and 21st amendment. However, prohibition led to a huge increase in crime rates as well as taking a huge role in the development of NASCAR. Although, many notorious criminals came out of prohibition, by far the most famous would be Alphonse Gabriel Capone, also known as Al Capone.

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.

Although the temperance movement was concerned with the habitual drunk, its primary goal was total abstinence and the elimination of liquor. With the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the well-organized and powerful political organizations, utilizing no holds barred political tactics, successfully accomplished their goal. Prohibition became the law of the land on January 16, 1920; the manufacturing, importation, and sale of alcohol was no longer legal in the United States. Through prohibition, America embarked on what became labeled “the Nobel Experiment.” However, instead of having social redeeming values as ordained, prohibition had the opposite effect of its intended purpose, becoming a catastrophic failure.

Why was Prohibition such a controversial issue during the 1920’s? Prohibition was the banning of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. The power to ban the production, export, import, transportation or sale of alcoholic beverages was given by the 18th Amendment, 1917. This was gradually adopted by state governments across America and was followed up in 1919 by the Volstead Act that defined intoxicating liquor as a drink containing 0.5% of alcohol and prescribed penalties for breaking the law. By 1920 Prohibition applied to the whole of the USA.

January 1920, the opening year of the 18th Amendment that sought banning “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” within the United States and its US territories. Many Americans relate this era with speakeasy, public law breaking, and a public disregard for the establishment of prohibition. The 18th Amendment was the first constitutional amendment that sought to limit the rights of citizens and their rights to drink. This would become an attempt that many would soon come to realize as one of the greatest failures in law enforcement in American History. For if an American wants to drink, those with the American spirit for rebellion will surly offer him one.

The 1920’s was a huge, significant time for the United States. One of the most important parts of this time is the Prohibition Era. What is Prohibition? Prohibition is defined as the banning of alcohol use. On July 22nd 1919, this idea was put into action using the 18th amendment. The 18th amendment forbade the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol (Lapsanky-Werner 229). This amendment was enforced by the Volstead Act, named after Andrew Volstead. This act was not very effective, and alcohol consumption was at an all-time high. It was said that most Americans became criminals overnight because they resisted this act. The people against the prohibition were known as “Wet’s” and the supporters of the

characterized by another major event, brought about by the 18th amendment - Prohibition. The 18th Amendment was passed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified two years later. It banned the distribution and production of alcoholic beverages. “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the

The introduction of prohibition in 1919 created numerous opinions and issues in American society. Prohibition had been a long standing issue in America, with temperance

health and said that by the men going to the saloons it was a risk for

In 1920 January 26 at midnight the drinking, transporting, distribution, and consumption of alcohol came to a stop. At that time the 18th amendment was put into effect. In the eyes of the government it was at first a way to stop the criminal activity, but in reality it just made things worse for local police.

As a result, by the middle of the century, drinking and voting were combined into a single event—a celebration of political masculinity (Freund). In the 1920’s an overly aggressive attempt by the government to impose legal restrictions on one's private behavior was created with the 18th amendment. The 18th amendment prohibited the production and consumption of alcohol in the United States. Prohibition withstood nearly fourteen years of U.S. history (1920 to 1933) where the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquor was made illegal by word of congress. It was a time characterized by speakeasies, glamor, gangsters and for an amount of time, even the typical citizen broke the law.(Rosenberg)

Implemented in the 1920's, Prohibition made the selling and buying of alcoholic beverages illegal. Rather than improve Americans lives, Prohibition created a multitude of issues. Prohibition was a drastic failure and created more problems for the United States. Because of the lack of public support, people believed in personal choice and thought it was up to them whether or not they wanted to drink. There was a lack of enforcement of Prohibition and there were more "speakeasies" than officers. Many government officials went to speakeasies themselves. The bootlegging industry became very profitable, increasing crime and the number of gangs. Some officials were bribed by gangs as well as politicians and this lead to a corrupt government and