Rise Of Prohibition

In 1920, The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits the manufacture, sales, and transportation of the alcohol was passed and continued until 1933.

The Eighteenth Amendment was a statute that most American people in the 1920’s ignored.”The Amendment passed both chambers of the U.S congress in December 1917 and was ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states in January 1919” (Wallenfelt 14). “The amendment emerged from the organized efforts of the temperance movement and Anti-Saloon League, which attributed to alcohol virtually all of society’s ills and led campaigns at the local, state, and national levels to combat its manufacture, sale, distribution, and consumption”(Wallenfeldt 13). “Most of the organized efforts supporting prohibition involved religious coalitions that linked alcohol to immorality, criminality, and, with the even of World War 1, unpatriotic citizenship” (Wallenfeldt

In the 1920s, the 18th Amendment banned a person's right to manufacture and purchase liquor. Banning the transportation, manufacture,and sale of intoxicating beverages was known as prohibition, the most fought over law of the 1920’s. Prohibition was firmly backed by the government and the women in the United States that were also being abused. Important groups of

Prohibition was set into place on January 16, 1920. Prohibition had been tried before this. It never was successful when tried before. It was often referred to as “the noble experiment” (History Channel 2010). It was not illegal to drink alcohol it was illegal to manufacture and sell liquor (Andrews, E 2015). Manufacturing and selling alcohol was illegal and was punishable by law. There were special agents who investigated these crimes. There were half a million people involved in distilling (Engdahl, S 2012). These people were breaking the law. This was punishable with fines and jail time. There were seven thousand speakeasies in Chicago. There were thirty two thousand speakeasies in New York (Gitlin, M 2011). These speakeasies you needed a code to get into.

Imagine going to a Cardinals without buying a beer. That’s what happened when the 18th Amendment or the Prohibition was ratified in 1919. The 18th Amendment made it illegal to sell, manufacture, and transport intoxicating beverages. In 1920 the Volstead Act was passed, defining an intoxicating beverage as anything with more than 1% alcohol. Supporters of the amendment were upset with this because they thought an intoxicating beverage would be defined as hard liquors (gin, whiskey, and vodka.) Three reasons America changed it’s mind about Prohibition were bad economic consequences, crime and corruption, and lack of enforcement.

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.

Without supervision or watch over the alcohol production by the Government, the alcohol consumed in speakeasies- an establishment that illegally sold alcoholic beverages, were more dangerous that what was produced before the prohibition. Many believed that legal trade monitored by the Government would be better. By1933, both state and federal Governments responded with the Twenty-First Amendment, which ended prohibition.

The 18th amendment allegedly took the licenses from business owners, and jobs from working people, as the manufacturing and sale of alcohol was now prohibited. However, the 18th amendment never mentioned the consumption of liquor, making it acceptable to drink the alcohol that was previously bought before the amendment became effective. During prohibition, the craving of alcohol did not diminish as society was in a constant need of illegal alcohol, this laid the foundation of bootleggers to thrive. “Bootleggers began smuggling foreign-made commercial liquor into the United States from across the Canadian and Mexican borders and along the seacoasts from ships under foreign registry.” (Kerr 11) Bootleggers began to sell to anyone willing to purchase the illegal and imported alcohol, specifically the gangsters, also known as the mobsters. Under the circumstances that caused bootlegging and the selling alcohol illegally, it caused many people to turn to speakeasies. Speakeasies were illegal drinking dens, also known as saloons, that where found underground. “The people involved with speakeasies mainly

This investigation focuses on answering the question: How did Irish Mob activity in New York City change during the Prohibition Era? The paper will address the different ways crime progressed in New York City from 1915-1935. This time period allows for greater perspective of crime patterns shortly before, during, and directly following the Prohibition Era. The key organized crime groups during this time period were Irish Mob gangs such as the White Hand and Gopher Gangs. In order to properly investigate the question and analyze findings it will be essential to use primary source documents including but not limited to the New York Times’ article “Our Town and Its Folk; Tyro Motorists and Other Citizens” written in 1925.

For the people who didn’t take advantage of the loopholes, there were many illegal ways for the citizens of the United States to get there hands on alcohol. Citizens relied on gangsters and mobsters to supply them with alcohol. Gangsters took this opportunity to make a profit off of such a large need in America. One of the more famous gangsters was named Al Capone. He was the mob boss in Chicago. Gangsters like Capone would hire me to smuggle in alcohol from different countries and bring it into America. Others would buy their alcohol in large quantities made in homemade stills. They would then open up secret bars known as speakeasies for people to come and drink and socialize with each other. During this period of time when crime rates shot up, Prohibition Agents were hired to raid speakeasies, find stills, and arrest gangsters. Despite their efforts, most of these agents were not qualified and were underpaid leading to a high rate of bribery.

When personal choice is withdrawn from individuals and prohibition is implemented to control natural human behavior, the hypocrisy that many preach the United States as being a free society and a nation of tolerance seems to deteriorate when politicians see any opportunity to capitalize on the masses without regard. Yet even after alcohol prohibition and fighting an endless war on drugs, history still repeats itself over and over again while the taxpayer is left with the bill. Responsible and recreational drug users feed the black market without any other option due to prohibition. And with an unlimited and unregulated supply from cartels to satisfy the consumer, there is no question why Al Capone came to light at the end of alcohol

I would argue yes but not for the reasons so far given. ArchView, a research group based in California have suggested that by 2020, the marjiuana market in the United States could exceed $21.8billion. In four years. That's simply phenomenal!

In 1920 prohibition started in the United States, this was a legal act that outlawed the manufacturing, transport and sale of alcohol. Though this law only lasted till 1933 it had an extremely large impact on America while it was still in place. It is important for the people of America today to learn about prohibition in order to prevent causing the problems that prohibition created then in today’s society. While the intention of the ban of alcohol was meant to be a good thing it did not turn out as such in the long run. If people in America learn about the past here it can help in preventing them from making the same mistakes again and bettering our country instead of possibly hurting it.

Prohibition in the United States refers to a nation-wide end of the consumption of alcohol. Different groups of people have made attempts at prohibition in the United States since the creation of colonies. Liquor was the equivalent of water throughout the settlements as they popped up along the coast. Many people found the overindulgence they saw in their husbands and neighbors of alcohol appalling. The hardships and struggles due to forming a new nation often led to these troubles. After the Civil War, a fight between two halves of a divided nation, the increase in consumption peaked as reparations began throughout the country. The spike led to increased friction on the home-front. Women started to band together in an attempt to protect their families from drunk husbands and the dangers they saw in the overindulgence of alcohol. Soon, the rest of the county was calling for a fix to these issues. Most believed the creation of a nationwide Prohibition act would make alcohol and it’s associated problems to disappear from the country. Prohibition was “a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive” (Hoover) that failed at it’s intended purpose of diminishing alcohol use.

On January 19, 1920, the 18th Amendment was instated, which legally prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" (Document). This law shut down liquor businesses and appears to be banning alcohol in the United States under all circumstances but when analyzed closely, it failed to state that in addition to the ban on the economic side, it was also outlawing the consumption side. The government assumed that due to the widespread knowledge and awareness of the 18th Amendment and its drastic effect on a common material good in society, that the ban on the importation, transportation, and selling of alcohol would indirectly lead to the inability to consume it. This was not the case. A few people discovered the loophole and as a result, the illegal liquor business began booming because though the supply of alcohol decreased, the demand was higher than ever.