The Consequences And Effects Of Prohibition In The United States

Prohibition, a word that defined an era. “The Eighteenth Amendment of the constitution was ratified in January 1919 and was enacted in January 1920, which outlawed the manufacturing of intoxicating beverages as well as the transportation of intoxicating liquors.” The forging of this amendment came from the culmination of decades of effort from many different organizations such as Women’s Christian Temperance Union as well as the Anti-Saloon League. When America became a dry nation on January 17, 1920, it would remain a dry nation for the next 12 years when it was finally repealed in December of 1933. This amendment being put into place caused tens of thousands of distilleries, breweries, and saloons across America to be compelled to close their doors, as America embarked on a very controversial era known as the Prohibition Era. Prohibition was being implemented on a national scale now and being enshrined in the Constitution no less. What followed was a litany of unintended consequences throughout America. Did prohibition really help America, or did prohibition trigger a landslide of problems in 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

Prohibition was undertaken to reduce crime, reduce corruption, and solve social problems in America but it failed on all accounts. Prohibition had the exact opposite effect on people than its original purpose was. Instead of removing alcohol from society, Prohibition actually instigated a national drinking spree that held constant until Prohibition was repealed. Felix Von Luckner said, “My observations have convinced me that many fewer would drink were it not illegal” (Von Luckner, 2). He believed that the law against alcohol manufacturing just instigated more drinking. The people during this period in time were so rebellious that they would do the opposite of anything that they were told to do. This had a huge contribution to the failure of Prohibition. Due to the failure of Prohibition, America’s society had fallen spiral to a drinking spree (Batchelor, 1). Many believed that the main cause of the failure of Prohibition was the breakdown of the enforcement agencies. In Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia said, “The Prohibition Enforcement Unit has entirely broken down. It is discredited; it has become a joke…” (La Guardia, 2). The Roaring Twenties’ prosperity was lost due to the failure of the Prohibition Enforcement Unit. If the law was stronger and better enforced, Prohibition could have succeeded. This was very detrimental to society because it showed the

In conclusion in an effort to limit crime, alcoholism, prostitution, and poverty the United States government failed, but women had a chance to show their competency and their ability to voice their opinions. Prohibition did indeed lead to the birth and growth of organized crime. The great experiment that was prohibition did not accomplish its goals of solving the social problems of America or eliminating alcohol consumption. But, it will always be remembered for causing Americans to reflect on the effects of alcohol on society.

The Prohibition Era was a period of time when the entire nation was expected to be alcohol-free, or “dry”. In January 1919, prohibitionists achieved the ratification of the eighteenth amendment to the constitution, “forbidding the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors.” The activists in the Temperance Movement had lobbied and pushed for this ratification for decades. Temperance activists consisted of women, church members, and employers. The main concern was centered around the idea that liquor made alcoholics and irresponsible people. The widespread support for the liquor ban was reflected in its approval by more

The Prohibition Era of the 1920’s was an infamous time for the United States. However, despite the roar and boom or the twenties, prohibition did little to benefit Americans or the country itself. The ban of the make, transportation, and sale of alcohol only caused an increase in crime and decrease in public health and safety with practically no economic benefit.

went up and more people were homeless and prisons became full. The courts and prisons

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.

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

Prohibition and United States Society in 1920's Prohibition was the legal ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol. It was introduced in 1919 and was viewed as the answer to many of America's problems. It was thought that the end of alcohol in America would spark a new and greater society in America. People believed that it would reduce crime, drunkenness, violence and that it would reduce families in poverty because the men would not go out spending all the money on 'alcohol.'

The 18th amendment was ratified by congress on January 16, 1919 in which the selling and distribution of “intoxicating liquors” was banned. That was the start of what many called the dry decade in the United States. Norman H. Clark’s Deliver Us from Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition illustrates the struggles to make the dry decade possible and the consequences that followed it. The 235 page text describes how the Anti-Saloon League was determined to make prohibition possible and the struggles they had to overcome. As well as what directly followed once it was a reality.

Evidently prohibition had created a new set of evils possibly worse than the old and far worse than the pros of prohibition. Not only did it impact certain people, but the entire U.S. as

Introduction Prohibition stood out as a sore thumb during a time of progressive cultural and economic changes in the 1920s. Prohibition began as a temperance movement in the late 1800s in the United States. The idea of a ban on alcohol became a fast growing idea on the grounds of the United States’ moral fiber, most notably in the southern regions of the country. Prohibition was eventually enacted in 1918 as a temporary measure in order to send more provisions to US forces during World War One. Prohibition was soon instituted on a national and state scale with the introduction of the 18th amendment in 1919.

“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty,

Overall, prohibition did reduce alcohol consumption, but only to those who actually drank responsibly in the U.S.. Yet, thanks to the economics of prohibitions, the harm done from alcohol abuse was made worse. Hospitalizations and violent crimes related to alcohol soared, corruption was created in politics and law enforcement, caused a greatness of immorality, along with disrespect of religion and the law. Over burdened the penal system, harmed people financially and physically, and prevented the treatment of problems. A great social critic named H.L.