Prohibition Dbq

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On January 17th, 1920, the “noble experiment” of prohibition commenced after the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution became enforced after the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, took effect.1 The Prohibition Era witnessed the attempt by the United States government to prohibit the production, sale, importation and transportation of alcoholic beverages nationwide.2 Questions regarding the role of alcohol in American society and the fight towards prohibition had been embedded into American popular discourse since the inception of the United States.3 The 18th Amendment, which represented the zenith of an alliance of progressive reformers, religious groups and temperance advocates who employed a multitude of …show more content…

Prohibition was violated as Americans simply did not want prohibition.33 In response to the Volstead Act, an illegal industry developed to manufacture and distribute alcohol across the United States in order to meet the demand that Americans had for alcohol.34 The national need for alcohol exacerbated “crime, corruption, violence, disregard for law, and increased lawlessness,” and was reflective of the hypocrisy of the Volstead Act.35 While localized distilleries and commercial distilleries produced alcohol within America, bootleggers smuggled alcohol over land and rumrunners smugg During 1925, the Prohibition Bureau “estimated that only 5 percent of the liquor illegally entering the United States was stopped.”36 The alcohol produced was also often adulterated and could be poisonous.37 In turn, organized crime syndicates, such as Al Capone’s racket in Chicago, led the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol nationwide and were becoming incredibly rich. The rate of crime during the Prohibition Era increased and the gangs were responsible for it. Police officers and gang members were dying in large numbers, corrupt police departments, judicial officials and government officials were everywhere, and they helped to prevent liquor sellers from being prosecuted.38 Moreover, without the regulation of the government and enforcement of tax policy, alcohol producers and distributors no longer had to pay tax, and were free to decide what strength their alcohol was, how they would manufacture their alcohol, and in how they ran their liquor establishments.39 Alcohol producers and distributors during prohibition would also have been able to avoid spending unnecessary funding on marketing since the industry was illegal. As a result, it is difficult to “justify prohibition on economic grounds,” since prohibition had ambiguous implications on whether it was successful

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