Social Problems Of The Prohibition In The 1920's

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The roaring twenties, a decade of celebration and partying after world war I finished, a decade of breaking way of tradition, and also a decade of banned alcohol. As part of the 18th amendment, alcohol was prohibited and the manufacturing, transportation, importation, exportation and selling of alcoholic beverages were illegal. This ban was put in place to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve the health and hygiene in America. Unfortunately, the problems the prohibition sought to resolve went on to become worse, causing a rise in crime (making it organised), courts/prisons to overload, and the population's health took its toll.

If most of the population disliked …show more content…

One of the first people to bring the notion of the alcohol ban was Carry Nation. Carry believed she was ordered by God to promote the prohibition as she would often enter bars and destroy their stock. Carry Nation not only had the religious population on her side but also women because many women believed it would protect themselves and their children from their husband's alcohol abuse (as seen in source 1). Through further recollection of the supreme court's decision (source 2) historians and others are able to pinpoint the luck supporters of the alcohol ban had.
On January 17th, 1920, alcohol prohibition was put in place. This simple act that wanted to lower crime rate gave organised crime lords an advantage and made them wealthy pioneers. The main mafia families to take part in the illegal selling of alcohol were the Lucchese family, Bonanno family, Gambino family, Colombo family and the Genovese family. These mobsters would use bribery for some of their incomes, having people pay monthly …show more content…

Many people abused the alcohol they were able to get their hands on, causing major damage to their organs. People were not allowed to be seen drinking alcohol so when people drank out, they expected to get drunk and finish their glass. Some Americans switched to other (some of which were arguably harsher) drugs such as opium, marijuana, patent medicine and, even cocaine. Due to the making of alcohol being banned, there were major risks involved in drinking said alcohol and a risk noted was being poisoned which was quite common. All of these negative effects had people rushing to the hospital. unfortunately, not all survived. In New york city, 1920, only 84 people died from alcohol related causes but in 1927, 700 people had died from the same

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