Explain How The Prohibition Corrupted Society In The 1920s

By the end of the 1920s, American society had changed beyond recognition in comparison with how it was before World War One. America had grown richer and was the country that everyone looked up to and wanted to live in. Before the war people were saving their money, but after the war, society started spending money as they earned it, and with credit, before they earned it. What changed America so much was the prohibition of 1920 which corrupted society a lot. During prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, export, import, and sale of alcoholic beverages were illegal. The prohibition was a failure for temperance societies, churches, and fanatic evangelists who authored the legislation. Prohibition corrupted society during the 1920s because it was a bad example towards families, it increased the amount of alcoholic beverages that were consumed, and it increased the rate of homicide.

First, Prohibition was originally created to help America but instead it made its society corrupt as shown

in document 4. Prohibition also affected families. Because men did not have the right to drink alcohol they would drink it secretly. Instead of going to the saloons and drinking it publically they went home and drank it illegally and showing a bad example for their children. Throughout document 4 a family is concerned about how Prohibition is changing their whole family. They state that the men started drinking in their home and that it exposed the family to the “evils” of alcohol. In document 4 there is a poem that is written and the last two lines are very significant, they read “Johnny’s on the front porch watching for the cops”. This line shows that while the men are drinking in the house the son (Johnny) has to watch for the cops. This experience for Johnny is not a positive one, he is being exposed to the “evils” of alcohol like stated in document 4. Prohibition corrupted society because it exposed the evils of alcohol to younger children and families.
Secondly, Prohibition corrupted society in the 1920s because it increased the amount of alcoholic beverages that were consumed. Even though the sale of alcohol was now illegal it was still available at underground drinking establishments. The number of speakeasies increased within the years and every time the police found one another would be created. After prohibition Americans found many ways to get alcohol, for example, they organized smuggling of alcohol from Canada and other places. Also rum rows (referring to a line of ships loaded with liquor anchored beyond the maritime limit of the United States) existed off the coast of big cities just beyond the three mile limit to off load their cargoes onto speed boats. Americans tried everything to get their liquor. In document 5 it states that in 1921 right after the prohibition occurred the amount of gallons consumed was 0.25 but then in 1925 it became 1.25 gallons and then in 1929 it was 1.3 gallons. This proves that even though the prohibition was supposed to decrease the amount of alcoholic consumption, the alcohol consumed increased.
Lastly, Prohibition corrupted society in 1920 as proven in document 6.

Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. Prohibition did the exact opposite concerning crimes. As shown in document 6, the rate on homicides in 1920 (when the prohibition occurred) was approximately, 675,000 and in 1933 it was approximately, 980,000. As stated before, prohibition was supposed to help decrease the rate for crimes. Prohibition also presented lucrative opportunities for organized crime to take over the importing, manufacturing, and distributing of alcoholic drinks. For example, Al Capone, one of the most infamous bootleggers, was able to build his criminal empire on profit he made from selling illegal alcohol. It can be concluded that the Prohibition of 1920 corrupted the society because it increased the homicide rate largely as proven in document

6.
In conclusion, the prohibition corrupted the society in 1920 because it had a negative impact on families, it increased the amount of alcoholic beverages being consumed, and, it increased the amount of crimes. The prohibition was originally created to make America a better place to live, where less people would purchase alcohol. Prohibition led to an increase in black market for alcohol, and instead of reducing crime as it was planned, prohibition allowed crimes to flourish in the country. While is was believed that the prohibition would decrease the number of crimes, it went on to make the situation even worse than it was before. Prohibition was envisage to decrease crimes, amount of alcohol consumed, and the negative impact on families but it did the exact opposite. The prohibition of 1920 corrupted the society very significantly.