The Ineffectiveness of Prohibition

Prohibition started in January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 1933 and was the period in time where the sale, manufacture, and transportation of any alcoholic

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

“By 1830, the average American over 15 years old consumed nearly seven gallons of pure alcohol a year – three times as much as we drink today” (PBS, nd). The result was the temperance movement. The Temperance movement was an anti-movement that swept across the country in the 1830s and 40s. The abolitionists tried to show that drinking alcohol was a sin and that the country needed to be cleansed. They called for a prohibition of alcohol. On January 17th, 1920, an amendment to the constitution was passed that banned the making, transporting, and selling of alcohol and other intoxicating beverages.

Movements for change have existed throughout history and have different motives. The Prohibition movement in the early nineteen hundreds is started a small group of women and religious leaders. The motive for this movement is to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol. As the movement grew, the group influenced government policy in favor for their issue. Positive intentions included the removal of alcohol from medicine, to relieve addiction. On the other hand, women supported this cause to better their life, while multiple theorist believing alcohol is detrimental to politics. This movement helped inspire others and mold the roles of men and women while making progress. Prohibition is represented to be a success, since it reveals how a belief by a few can grow and have a positive intention.

The late comedian W.C jokingly said,” Once, during the Prohibition, I was forced to live on for days on nothing but food and water. Even Though, he said this as a joke it was true for majority of the public. The days before the 18th amendment was passed many depended upon liquor. At one point the use of alcohol became abuse. Then on January 16, 1919 the 18th Amendment was ratified so alcohol could not take over the life of Americans, but it didn't go quite as planned. The Prohibition banned the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol and the desperate ones found loopholes in this simple amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment was ultimately passed to keep a healthy working society and it was repealed because of the increasing organized crime and illegal activities all over the country.

The alcohol prohibition also known, as the “noble experiment” was a time when the citizens of the United States were tested of their sanity, loyalty, and respect of the law and government. On January 16, 1920 alcohol was banned from the nation we live in today and all purchase and consumption of liquor was illegal. In the beginning of the Prohibition era the public had a general acceptance and by 1933 when the Prohibition ended the public was annoyed with the law, the law enforcers, and the government. The banning of alcohol throughout the nation didn’t just happen over night. For many years, dating back into the 1800’s, people were creating groups that were against alcohol.

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

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

One major movement was the temperance movement. In colonial America, informal social controls in the home and community helped maintain the expectation that the abuse of alcohol was unacceptable. There was a clear consensus that while alcohol was a gift form God its abuse was from the Devil. As the colonies grew from a rural society into a more urban one, drinking patterns began to change. As the American

During the 19th century, women did not have many rights at all, so when their already demanding husbands would lose coherence as a result of drinking, the women would get the brute end the stick and hand (WQLN). Found in The Drunkards Home by S.F Cary illustrates the brutality of a drunken man to his family (Cary). Stemming from this was the effect on the self, the individual. By the 19th century drinking had begun at such a young age where drinking in high excess was completely normal (WQLN). However, as Brinkley mentions, Evangelical Protestants, and later reformists such as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance and the Washington Temperance Society sought out prohibition for the purpose of safety and security for the United States of America (Brinkley, 327). The country could no further progress with a beer in hand, but they could with assistance from these groups especially the Protestants, through religious revivals, prayer and action (Brinkley). The Antebellum Era is only the beginning of this reform, but the Protestants helped ignite this issue to a blaze of controversy for later years

“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,

World War One served as a starting point for America during their time with prohibition. President Woodrow Wilson implemented a temporary order of no alcohol in 1917 for saving grain. During this same year, the eighteenth amendment was passed, outlawing all manufacture and distribution of alcohol. Prohibition helped to decrease the crime rate, but it destroyed the economy.

There were multiple reasons for this epic move. America’s drinking habits were progressively getting worse, in the 1920’s especially. Factories started growing and people were forced to work harder and longer grueling hours just to support their families. Many people became depressed and started to drink more vigorously. Binge drinking had also become a new major trend. Due to the exhaustion of all the work people had been doing lately, many had become upset and depressed. This then led to drinking a lot more, and illegally, with the new laws being enforced. The number of alcohol related deaths and crimes were progressively growing. The anticipated conclusion of this act was to reduce drinking done by the workers in factories and all jobs. The factory owners wanted to increase the production rate. Faster production was intercepted by drunk employees. (1920’s Prohibition: Moonshine, Bootleggers, and Speakeasies).

The next Anti-Alcohol group that did not support drinking was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The Women’s Temperance Union, or the WCTU, was very interesting. Women were not believed to be socially appropriate to deal with political standings. This was one exception that women were allowed to work with the men. The Temperance group in 1874 and believed that the alcohol made your body impure. WCTU women normally were lower class or middle class families that had direct ties to the protestant churches throughout America. They also believed alcohol would tear apart their families and destroy their lives. WCTU women did many things to rid alcohol such as; breaking into saloons and destroying the inventory present. Not many people participated in their acts and the WCTU women weren’t satisfied.

In the 1920s, a religious revival was spreading throughout the United States. The middle-class, through the legislation, sought to end sin in the United States and started with alcohol. On January 29, 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment, also known as The Volstead Act. The U.S. Constitution states, “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors...beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” Prohibition began when a town in Massachusetts banned the sale of alcohol, then Maine passed a state prohibition law. Prohibition began to spread like wildfire. Soon a total of 33 states passed their own prohibition laws. Enforcement of Prohibition proved to be harder than first thought. As soon as enforcement started, people began looking for ways around the law. In one instance, a tavern owner charged patrons a price to see a striped pig. Free drinks came with the price of admission.