Outline For Prohibition

During the 1920's, the eighteenth amendment was enacted making the sale and consumption of alcohol illegal throughout the entire United States. This time period is referred to as the age of

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Prohibition was a period of time in which the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. It started January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 1933. Although it was designed to put an end to all drinking, it simply created a large number of bootleggers who produced and sold illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol and also through other methods. They pioneered the practices of organized crime that are still used today. Thus, Prohibition led to the rapid growth of organized crime.

Clark analyzes and critiques Prohibition not as a historical moment, but as a movement. This book is very well researched and a thorough bibliography is

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes.” In January of 1920, thirsty Americans flooded the stores to purchase their last legal drink from the saloons before the 18th amendment went into effect. Although at the time outlawing the manufacture, sale and transport of alcohol seemed like a good idea, some of the consequences that came in the aftermath show that prohibition was a huge disaster. The original purpose of “The Noble Experiment” was to lower crime and reduce many social problems that Americans of the early 20th century faced in everyday life. Instead alcohol became even more popular, and at the same time, became more dangerous

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this," Albert Einstein. (Internet, quotes on Prohibition, page 1)

Although the Mafia is most associated with the Prohibition era of the 1920’s when it dominated crime in all major US cities, the true beginnings of the most infamous criminal organization started quite earlier. Beginning in the late 1800s, many Italians immigrated to New York City due to continued rumors of success in the area. This trend continued out of the 19th century and into the 20th as over 500,000 Italians immigrated to the United States (Sifakis). As Italian citizens migrated to the cities of the US, they brought along organized Italian criminals, who formed an organization known as Costra Nosa, translating to ‘our thing’, today we call it the Mafia.

Prohibition of alcohol was a law that remained in place from 1920 to 1933 and prohibited the production, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. However, did this law actually work in the prevention of alcohol, or does it just worsen it? The main goal of the prohibition of alcohol was to eliminate, or even reduce, many of the problems associated with alcohol consumption, for example, lower the rates of alcoholism, criminal activity, binge drinking, drunk driving, deaths, and injuries via alcohol poisoning, and many others, and prohibition actually achieved many of its goals. Anyhow, many American historians and citizens think the prohibition of alcohol did not help the nation, and started a wave of crimes and promote a whole new gangster era. The perfect excuse for crime, such as corruption, during the 1920’s was found in the prohibition of alcohol, but these type of crimes already existed a long time ago. Crimes were not anything new for American citizens during this time period. Furthermore, this ban was actually very successful achieving its goals. The drop of consumption of alcohol during the prohibition and even years after the government got rid of it was one of the biggest in American history. Not only that, but it also helped to wipe away a “macho tradition” surrounded by bars and night saloon. Additionally, the values of the American families were recovered after prohibition, bringing all the families together.

America, land of the free, or so it was supposed to be, yet to many of the people who resigned in the U.S during the time of prohibition it didn’t feel as such. In the words of H.L Mencken the American people viewed “Prohibition as a symbol of all the countless snoutings and repressions that now characterized life in the republic.” Countless amounts of individuals throughout the prohibition felt as though it was their decision to chose whether they should be allowed to drink or not. The greater majority felt as though prohibition was an unnecessary thing, especially when it seriously came into effect.

Despite the fact that manufacture of wine, malt liquor and distillery had significantly decreased after prohibition started in 1920; there were no significant change in alcohol sales and profits. In fact, National Policy stated that the federal government had no authority prosecute small offenders who possessed liquors. (Wheeler, 1927, p.1) Furthermore, many small individuals had started to bootleg and sell illegal liquor throughout the country.

Prohibition, the greatest thing that has happened, was what most “dry” people thought. Yes, prohibition did stop a lot of people from consuming alcohol. Prohibition helped turn some “wets”, people who consumed alcohol, into “drys”, which were individuals that did not consume alcohol. Unfortunately, there was a huge downside to prohibition. Throughout the times of prohibition, the rate of gang activity that was involved in daily life rose dramatically due to the desire to obtain alcohol despite the fact that it had been made illegal.

It is important for all US citizens to learn our country's history. Our history as what makes our country what it is, I have chosen to teach you about the prohibition. This is a particularly interesting and complicated subject. The prohibition is important to learn about because the events that happened caused the first and only repeal of an amendment. It all happened during a very difficult decade starting in the 1920s. Our country learned that banning something can have the opposite effect making the item even more desirable than before, In this situation it was alcohol.

In the early part of the 20th century some people had had enough of liquor and its deleterious effects on people and their behavior. Some believed that alcohol, and drunkenness were the most worrying afflictions that our nation faced. At least on the surface this was what prohibition was about. On the flip side, it seemed that prohibition was about "a still dominant, overwhelmingly rural, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment, aware that its privileges and natural right to rule were being increasingly threatened by the massive arrival of largely despised (and feared) beer-swilling, wine-drinking new American immigrants" (Behr, 1996). Many of the "Americans" had descended from Protestant,

However some of this alcohol was not the type of alcohol that they were used to drinking which resulted in many health problems. More employees were probably absent from work than before Prohibition, with alcohol poisoning from drinking the 'moonshine', which frequently resulted in blindness and death. This was because of the types of alcohol sold, where no one knew quite what they were getting. In fact much of this alcohol was industrial alcohol, unfit for consumption which caused blistered lips. Lack of public support was definitely quite

Everybody knows about the Prohibition and how it made the making, distributing, and selling of alcohol illegal. In the early 1900’s the Prohibition was introduced as a way to save grain for the war efforts. By limiting the amounts of grains used in alcohol, the grains used in bread became more abundant. The only flaw in the plan, American’s love their alcohol. In order to get their alcohol, people began committing crimes and doing whatever was necessary to make money and drink liquor. The Prohibition was originally thought to be the silver hammer that would eliminate any and all alcohol related issues. Instead, it turned out to be the lodestone that led America into 13 years of chaos and danger.