The Consequences of Prohibition Essay

During prohibition many bad things were happening to America’s society. Prohibition led to so many bad things in the country like bootleggers or racketeer, gangsters, and dope sellers. The government did not want people to continue these actions. There was so much smuggling of alcohol that the government could not stop it all. Crime rate and murders went way up in the country during prohibition, but when prohibition was repealed the homicide rates went down. It might have had to do with alcohol, it may not have, but no one knows. People would smuggle alcohol into the country so the country wasn’t really considered to be “dry.” No matter how hard our country tries, it is impossible to stop all the crime and our country knew that, so the bootleggers continued to smuggle alcohol across borders know the government can not stop every little thing. Even during this time period of prohibition Government Officials decided to drink alcohol against their own laws. It says in Document D in the second paragraph

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)

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.

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

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.

In 1849, the Daughters of Temperance, created by Susan B. Anthony, was formed. These few enterprising women referred to alcohol as “The Unclean Thing” and began one of the many quests for Prohibition. They strove to shut down saloons or at least regulate their hours, closing on Sundays, the day of rest, in order to protect their families and their finances from the horrors of men under the influence.6 However, this proved to be a difficult endeavor because by 1875, one third of the total federal revenue was a result of the manufacturing, purchasing, and distribution of alcohol.7 The multiple Prohibition groups that had sprung up by this time did indeed recognize that their goal of “destroying the demand of the consumer” of alcohol related items would jeopardize over one thousand million dollars worth of income, without compensating those who would become indebted by their proposition. Supporters of the temperance movement then realized that their efforts must be extended beyond the realm of the church in order for them to achieve their arduous goal on a national level.8

Prohibition began with the ratification of the 18th amendment stating,”…the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors…for beverage purpose is hereby prohibited.”(Constitution). In fact the Prohibition Act was effective in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed by the public; it, however, trigger an up-roar of organized criminal activity like the Mafia during the Prohibition movement.

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 was favored by the Anti-Saloon League established by Howard Hyde Russel whom practiced law and ministry. Equally important, this group appealed to local churches to favor their movement. This gave the group loyal followers giving them the chance to focus on politicians to support the movement as well. In addition, women favored the movement as well, due to them believing alcohol blocked the unity of family. Women could not conform to the behavior or drunkenness of their husbands and saw alcohol only brought about conflict. As time passed even many factory

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

In order to evaluate the extent to which Prohibition was a failure, it much first be understood for what reasons the ban on alcohol happened. Alcohol had always been a prevalent aspect of American society. An English captain, in a visit to America in 1839, noted that Americans seemed to react to everything with a drink. He talked about how Americans drink to celebrate anything from a meeting to a birth. They drink for seemingly pointless reasons, like if the weather is especially hot or cold.

Another organization that was also created before prohibition was the Anti-Saloon League (Karen Blumenthal). These two pieces of evidence goes to show that even though prohibition caused chaos it was not entirely because of prohibition becoming an amendment since two major parties that caused destruction were created

The Prohibition was the time period in which the 18th amendment was in order. The 18th amendment prohibited the sale, manufacturing, and transportation on intoxicating liquors. Many people were upset with this law but very few people listened to the law. This law caused many problems including bootlegging, organized crime, smuggling, and trafficking of alcohol. With all these problems the law caused more problems than it solved.

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

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. This ushered a period in the American history. This was known as Prohibition. Prohibition was difficult to force during the first decade of the 20th century. Bootlegging is the illegal production and sale of liquor. The increase of bootlegging, speakeasies, and the accompanying rise in gang violence and other crimes led to waning support for Prohibition. In 1933, the Congress had adopted a resolution. They proposed a 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which would repeal the 18th Amendment. The prohibition era came to a close by the end of that year.