The Failure Of Prohibition In The 1920's

Prohibition was a constitutional amendment that banned the sale and drinking of alcohol from the 1920’s to 1933. Prohibition was the 18th amendment to the US constitution that was later repealed by the 21st amendment in December of 1933. Of the 48 states only two states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, rejected the amendment. In the years that followed the passing of the 18th amendment, the illegal distilling of alcohol became a very lucrative industry that people dipped their toes into .One of the major happenings of the prohibition era was the rise of organized crime that came about with the sale of illegal liquor. The 18th amendment was also referred to as the Volstead act named after Arthur Volstead the document’s writer who pushed for its legislation. Prohibition was a legal act which made the buying of alcohol, illegal during the 1920’s and the 1930’s, and it led to people creating illegal alcohol.
Prohibition was led into effect by the temperance movement of the 1800’s and taken to church in the early 1900’s. Prohibition was considered the first major political effort by women and occasionally seen as a movement by

solely women. The temperance movement was mainly about the moderation of alcohol consumption and reduction of crime, poverty, and to increase the quality of life. There were many women who participated in the temperance movement as women and children were the most at risk for the ill effect of drinking. As the temperance movement spread across the nation, it gained momentum and crash landed on a bill to prohibit liquor. During and after world war 1 temperance had become a patriotic movement as drinking caused a decrease in much needed productivity and alcohol was better needed to treat the wounds caused by the first world war to help prevent infection as alcohol was a major antiseptic at the time. Religion also played a big role in the ban of drinking as people were still riding the effects of the reformation era.
One of the most renowned people of the 1920’s and 1930’s was legendary mobster Al Capone, who ruled over Chicago and other cities. One of the acts accredited to him is the Valentines massacre of February fourteenth, nineteen twenty-nine. The massacre was the typical gangland murder the police saw, as they were common as gangs fought for dominance in the bootleg market. There was a group of agents nicknamed The Untouchables as they could not be bribed. “Al Capone tried to have his men bribe these agents when they became too successful. He was never able to get them to take the money,though.one agent even chased down a gangster to return a large amount of cash that had been thrown in his car by one of Capone’s men”(lieurance1) this happening even made it into the papers. Another major player in the prohibition era was Morris Sheppard nicknamed the ‘Little Sheppard’; he was a law school graduate and took a hard stance against alcohol and the places that sold it. When his father passed away after an illness people pressed him to run for his father’s seat in the House of Representatives, to many of his competitors surprise he won the election at age twenty-seven. He was often called the Father of National Prohibition after his role in passing the Prohibition act, it took years but it was eventually passed. Carrie Amelia Nation of Kansas was a stoutly fifty year old with a well-known stance against alcohol; she had a firsthand experience with the bad effects of drinking, having been widowed at twenty-two and left a single mother after her husband, David Nation, drank himself to death.” Carry Nation became the face of the temperance movement. Armed with hatchets, Nation and other movement members expressed their distaste for alcohol by smashing glasses, tables, and chairs at saloons.”(currie21)
During the height of the era there were many underground bars, putting down roots as unlawful speakeasies. At these speakeasies there was a constant serving of spirits to the patrons. Speakeasies were a major part of the time as they allowed those who enjoyed drinking to do so in the company of others like them. The serving of illicit spirits had been prevalent throughout this age of unlawful acts and dirty money. As the times progressed the sale of illegal beverages was becoming a multibillion dollar business by the early 1930's. An estimated amount of money's being made was between ten and twenty billion dollars yearly in the 1930's. Speakeasies were commonly controlled by gangsters and their gangs; there were as many as one hundred thousand underground bars just in New York at the time. The laws on liquor were hard to enforce as many people enjoyed alcohol to the extent that they would make their own to avoid going without the occasional drink. The enforcers of the law were few and far between as they too enjoyed the Occasional swing of the bottle, as with severe cases the police could be bribed into turning a blind eye onto certain activities that were less than legal and not very respectable. “With Prohibition, many breweries began to make near beer while others began to produce soda, ice cream, and cheese.” (Wisconson1) while others began to produce syrups and other items that could be used in home brewing, although lots of breweries were to be shut down indefinitely. “In 1926, Wisconsin voters approved a referendum amending the Volstead Act that allowed the manufacture and sale of beer with 2.75 percent alcohol.” (Wisconsin1) this led to some breweries gaining back their status. The average cost of alcohol a bootlegger could sell at was about $3.50 a quart and about $30 per case, usually the patrons who paid the best were wealthy men.
Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st amendment to the constitution after long debate as to whether or not to pass the bill.

The 21st amendment didn’t take hold until the December of 1933 but it had been accepted earlier in the year in June. When the amendment was passed, the citizens of the US rejoiced at being able to drink legally without the consequences of the law. The bill was passed even though the dry’s tried their hardest to keep it from happening the wets eventually won out over them. In early April Michigan was the first state to pass the Twenty-first amendment at Junes ending nine states had passed the twenty-first amendment to the constitution. On December fifth nineteen thirty-three Utah became the thirty sixth state to approve the amendment placing it into the constitution and dissolving the eighteenth amendment

indefinitely
In conclusion the prohibition era was a time of great change that came with the pronouncement of illegal alcohol, speakeasies, and the life of the mafia. Even though the bill was only in effect for thirteen years, it caused a major shift in our alcohol consumption, it became cool to break the law, and it led to more people drinking than before. As Mark Thornton explains:
Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became "organized"; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition. (Thornton 1)
The 18th amendment was a legal act that made the buying and selling of alcohol illegal in the United States during the 1920’s and the 1930’s, and it is what led to more people distilling illegal alcohol for the benefits of money.