Temperance And Prohibition Propaganda

On December 16, 1919, however, prohibition became the law of the land in the passing of the 18th Amendment which stated "...the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors ... for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." (Constitution). This created a mixed bag of reactions by the citizenry.

Prohibition had been tried from a lot of time as temperance movements, the movements that tried to stop the alcohol consumption started in the latest 1700’s. The first group that wanted temperance was made by a group of Litchfield, Connecticut in 1789. Evangelical Protestants mainly formed these groups; however, they wanted moderation for preventing drunkenness. The ones who were most affected by

Not everyone approved of drinking. Many Protestant groups, including the Methodists and Lutherans had strong antidrink traditions based upon religious teachings. Prohibition was first tried in America to protect colonial settlers from the attacks of I The earliest reformers called for moderation, not total abstinence, but as their movement gained strength it demanded a complete prohibition of all beer, wine, and liquor. The first temperance legislation was passed in Massachusetts in 1838. Called the Many

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

1919 - The states ratified the 18th Amendment, barring the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages. Congress passed the Volstead Act, which gave the Commissioner of Internal Revenue the primary responsibility for enforcement of Prohibition (Internal Revenue Service, 2013)

The temperance movement is what started the prohibition. The temperance movement of the 19th century was a movement that tried to moderate the consumption of alcohol and they pressed for complete absence of alcohol. The movement

The desire to control alcohol consumption, or advocate temperance, has been a goal of humanity throughout countless periods of history. Many countries have had organized temperance movements, including Australia, Canada, Britain, Denmark, Poland, and of course, the United States. The American temperance movement was the most widespread reform movement of the 19th century, culminating in laws that completely banned the sale of all alcoholic beverages. The movement progressed from its humble local roots to nationwide organizations with millions of members and large amounts of political power. The growth of the temperance movement resulted from the changes in society between the original American settlers and the post-Revolutionary War

Prohibition had existed way before the whole country grew into chaos and terror trying to ban alcohol throughout United States. It was the act of banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol. In the early 1700s, many colonists directed Prohibition towards the Native Americans. Colonists created local laws that prevented people from selling or trading alcohol to them. They were concerned with their behavior due to alcohol. Although there were laws with the ideas of Prohibition, the laws were not enforced. This allowed liquor trade to continue and created a critical effect on the use of alcohol by Native Americans. In the 1900s, Prohibition did well trying to stop the promotion and the process of alcohol, but caused disruption, crime, and confusion

This is an important reason as to why the Prohibition movement gained so much momentum and support. With violence and crimes rates raised, many people feared the domestic sphere and the well-being of women and children in families. Many of these people blamed alcohol and pushed for prohibition. Of these supporters, Protestants play a large role. In a pro-prohibition newspaper from Milwaukee, a minister says, “deliverance will come… from the… unspoiled and unpoisoned by the wine-tinted, beer-sodden, whiskey-crazed, sabbath-desecrated, God-defying and anarchy-breeding,” [Doc H]. The Protestants believed that alcohol was the root of evil, and violence came from abusing it. As Protestantism had a major influence over much of the nation, preachers and women as well were able to speak to the members of the church about the issues they saw in using alcohol. They were able to use sermons and fiery speeches about how the devil tormented people through turning away from Christ and to the whiskey bottle. Spreading knowledge and opinions through religion is a large reason why Prohibition was supported by so many people, and was successfully

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.

     Prohibition had become an issue long before its eventual induction as the 18th amendment in 1920. Organizations came about for the sole purpose of an alcohol free America. In 1833, an estimated one million Americans belonged to some type of temperance association (Behr 12). Many believed the absence of alcohol would help the poor as well as big business. Lower class people would put more money into savings accounts and productivity would increase among workers (Hanson 27). More importantly the “noble experiment”—was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, and improve the health and hygiene in America” (Thorton 1).

Plus bootleg alcoholic beverages like beer and whisky were created, the whole drinking scene was slowly starting to look like its former self. The most confusing statistic is that before prohibition there were less speakeasies then there were during prohibition. So therefore the introduction of prohibition had actually increased America's alcohol intake rate. When Prohibition started it opened up an opportunity for local gangsters to make some money and then expand their business and many of them took this opportunity. Probably the most famous of all the gangsters was called Al Capone.

Temperance, the moderation of consumption of alcohol, created conflict between different sets of ideas and interests because the beginning of American history was heavy with alcohol use. Alcohol was the meeting point of many. The Marine Corps was started alone in a tavern. Creating this idea of being “more moral” because one doesn’t drink set people off. As written in our textbook, “one person’s sin is another’s pleasure or cherished custom” (449). The emerging middle-class felt they had more control of themselves because they didn’t drink. They brought religion in it to also make some of the public feel they were sinners for participating in a part of their culture. One large issue with temperance was the heavy Irish and German immigrants.

Both the federal and local government had difficulties in enforcing Prohibition over the course of the 1920’s. Enforcement was originally assigned to the IRS. Later it had been transferred to the justice Department. Prohibition was enforced much more strongly in areas where the population had more sympathy towards the legislation. The illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor went on throughout the decade. As well as operations of speakeasies, smuggling alcohol across state lines, and informal production of liquor in private homes.

Prohibition created more crime because it was leading to corruption and the “cure” was worse than the original problem (Sifakis 725). The number of crimes increased during the Prohibition which caused organized crime to be very “popular”. Many criminal groups had a regular income of money through illegal actions such as drinking and selling alcohol (Organized Crime and Prohibition 1). Alcohol increased the organized crimes during Prohibition through loopholes in the 18th Amendment, speakeasies, doctor’s prescriptions, and bootlegging.