Prohibition Dbq

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On October 28 1919 the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead act, was passed, starting the era of Prohibition. Many states already had prohibition in effect but it did not officially become a law until January 29 1920 making it the 18th Amendment. The prohibition era lasted from 1919 to 1933. Prohibition banned the sale, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol. This was done because many different groups of Americans were concerned about the negative effects on alcohol and thought that temperance would be the answer to America’s problems. The groups that supported prohibition thought it would improve neighborhoods, reduce crime, cleanse the corruption in politics, improve the economic status of America and improve the health of Americans .However it produced the complete opposite …show more content…

Industries like the theaters and soft drink companies like coca cola were supporters of prohibition because they thought that if people were spending less money on alcohol they would spend more money on their products. In turn this lead to the idea that prohibition would have an overall positive affect on economics because in general people would be spending their money on other things instead of alcohol .Prohibition was also expected to improve the military as well. No alcohol in the military would ideally mean healthier and more focused soldiers. African American politicians were also supporters of prohibition because they figured if America successfully enforced the 18th amendment it would also cause them to enforce the 14th and 15th amendment which supported civil rights thus improving the status of African Americans in Society. The working class of African Americans supported prohibition because they were promised lower crime and insurance rates and a less corrupt political system. They believed that prohibition would give black voters more power. Sadly prohibition did not fulfill any of

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