The Inintended Consequences of Alcohol Prohibition in The Unite States in the 1920s

1686 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The perspective of history

Section A: Plan of the Investigation (114 words) What were the unintended consequences of alcohol prohibition in the United States in the 1920’s? In this investigation, the focus will be on the time frame 1920 to 1933, from when the 18th amendment was passed to when alcohol prohibition was repealed. The pros and cons of national prohibition of alcohol in the aspects of health, financial, and social results will be weighed. This will be done through the interpretation of statistics from before and after prohibition, insights of those who lived through the time period, and apparent reasons for the repeal of the amendment. The main type of source used was secondary source journal articles authored by scholars concerning the outcome of prohibition. Section B: Summary of Evidence (645 words) Health Consequences: • More drinkers switched from beer and wine to spirits. (liquors) (Hall) • By the end of the 1920s there were more alcoholics and illegal drinking establishments than before Prohibition. (Beshears 2) • Adulterated or contaminated liquor contributed to more than 50,000 deaths and many cases of blindness and paralysis. (Beshears 2) • Tainted liquor killed an average of 1,000 Americans annually. (Burns, Lynn) Economic Consequences: • In 1916, there were 1300 breweries producing full-strength beer in the United States; 10 years later there were none. (Blocker 6) • The number of distilleries was cut by 85%, and most of the survivors produced little but industrial alcohol. (Blocker 6) • Legal production of near beer used less than 1/10 the amount of malt, 1/12 the rice and hops, and 1/13 the corn used to make full-strength beer before National Prohibition. (Blocker 7) • Federal tax revenues from distilled spirits dropped from ... ... middle of paper ... ...rdships and struggles. In the end, the repeal of the 18th amendment banning alcohol was a rational and long awaited move that helped to satisfy the American needs. Works Cited Hall, Wayne. "Alcohol Prohibition." Addiction History (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Blocker, Jack S., Jr. "Did Prohibition Really Work?" Public Health (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Beshears, Laura. "Honorable Style in Dishonorable Times." Americal Gangsters pag. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Thorton, Mark. "Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure." Cato (n.d.) pag. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Micael, Lerner A. "Going Dry: The Coming of Prohibition." Humanities (n.d.) pag. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Burns, Ken, and Lynn Novick. "Prohibition." PBS. PBS, Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Levine, Harry G. "Drug and Alcohol Prohibition." Drugs and Society: U.S. Public Policy. By Craig Reinarman: Society Pages, pag. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    Enacting prohibition in a culture so immersed in alcohol as America was not easy. American had long been a nation of strong social drinkers with a strong feeling towards personal freedom. As Okrent remarks, “George Washington had a still on his farm. James Madison downed a pint of whiskey a day”. This was an era when drinking liquor on ships was far safer than the stale scummy water aboard, and it was common fo...

    Read More

  • The Hopes and Realities of Prohibition

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The hopes of the prohibitionist were dreams of a healthier and more successful nation. Their dreams were spun from the idea of shutting out the alcohol industry and enforcing large industries and stressing family values. The eighteenth amendment consisted of the end of sales, production, transportation, as for importation and exportation of intoxicating liquors. Their imaginations were large and very hopeful. The prohibitionists felt that alcohol is a slow poison of their community. They felt that if the liquor industry was shut out that Americans would spend their hard earned money in the clothing, food, and shoe industries therefore boosting the American economy. Many felt, “Seeing what a sober nation can do is indeed a noble experiment and one that has never yet been tried, (Crowther, 11) Prohibition was a test of the strength of the nation and an attempt at cleaning up societies evils. These reformers denounce alcohol as a danger to society as well as to the human body. Some ethnic hopes of prohibition was to regulate the foreigners whose backgrounds consisted on the use of alcohol for religious purposes. And try to enforce an American valued society upon them. Many reformists felt that ending the use of alcohol would protect American homes and families. They felt that alcohol use was the root of their family’s destruction. Many women felt that their husbands would waste a lot of their income on the purchase of alcohol and not on family needs. Alcohol was often known as a “poison, or sin”. Another hope for the eighteenth amendment was to reduce the crime and death rate. Many people felt that drunkenness was the cause of many of the nations crimes. Prohibitionist felt very passionately on their cause and were often called “dry’s.” They felt their battle was justified and that, “it is manifest destiny that alcohol will not survive the scrutiny,”(Darrow and Yarros, 20).

    Read More

  • Prohibition: Why Did America Change Its Mind?

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Out of all 27 Amendments of the Constitution, only one has been repealed; that would be the 18th Amendment, Prohibition. From 1920 to 1933 the manufacture, transport, and sell of alcoholic beverages in the United States was illegal. The Amendment passed in 1919 and went into effect during 1920, only to be repealed 14 years later. What made America change its mind about Prohibition? There are three main reasons America repealed the 18th Amendment; these include increase in crime, weak enforcement and lack of respect for the law, and economic opportunities.

    Read More

  • The Backlash of Prohibition

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    Once people wanted a drink, nothing stopped them. Subsequently, prohibition sparked American ingenuity to step to the forefront. A black market emerged, as brewing beer making wine, and distilling whiskey, became a national past time. Enterprising home brewers could make enough Home brew, Dago Red, Bathtub Gin or Moonshine to quench their thirst and to sell as well. Therefore, stills begin popping up in basements, barns, backrooms, and the deep woods. Both Canada and Mexico were wet, and their border towns offered many opportunities for thirsty Americans to quench their thirst. Ships anchored outside the three-mile limit on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, loaded with alcohol becoming floating bars and nightclubs. Additional ships offered cases of alcohol spirits only to the professional rumrunners. Illegal liquor grew to such an extent that enforcement became virtually impossible.

    Read More

  • The Success and Failure of the Prohibition

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Small-scale legislation had been passed in several states, but no national laws had been enacted. On January 29, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified by Congress; it banned the sale and manufacture of alcohol; however the consumption of alcohol remained legal.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Rise of Crime in the 1920's

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1920s are usually characterized as a time of care-free, social rebellion against the restricting ideals of the post WWI world, but it has a darker side than this. Prisons populations and crime rates rose to an all time high from where they were pre-Prohibition. Gangsters soon became the richest, most powerful men in the country and all due to the bootlegging of liquor. In New York and Chicago especially, the gangs were as diverse as the people living there, all fighting to control their areas, causing insane amounts of violence and death. Although Prohibition's aim was to decrease drunkenness and crime, it would ultimately cause more harm than good with the emergence of speakeasies which kept people drunk and gangs who increased crime rates. Ultimetley Prohibition, also known as the “Nobel Experiment”, was a law that neither rid the US of crime or liquor; one could even argue it worsened these two factors of American society.

    Read More

  • Prohibition Research Paper

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alcohol Prohibition was supposed to improve the country’s social problems but it only led to the rise of powerful criminals. Prohibition was the first of the many culture wars that would divide the United States in the twentieth century. For centuries alcohol has been part of the American life; the prevalence of alcohol in daily life was plainly visible. According to Lerner, “the Americans can fix nothing, without a drink. If you meet, you drink; if you part, you drink; if you make acquaintance, you drink … you start it early in life, and you continue it, until you soon drop into the grave” (1). As the consumption rate of distilled spirits increased, American’s love for drinks caused problems: domestic violence, crime, neglected families, economic ruin, disease, and death. It was these combined effects that led reformers to warn against alcohol. Waves of temperance reformers, and temperance groups like the Washingtonians had tried to change drinkers through voluntary abstinence, but those who believed that moral courage and personal resolve could conquer alcoholism were quickly disappointed (Lerner 2).

    Read More

  • Heineken Case Study

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States beer industry represents 233 million hectoliters of the world’s 1,501 million hectoliters and is a dynamic part of the United States national economy, contributing billions of dollars in wages and taxes. Within the U.S., the beer market accounts for nearly 50% of total volume of alcohol, with the import specialty and light beer segments driving growth.

    Read More

  • Social Dichotomy of the 1920s

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Probibition during the 1920s is one of the many examples of dichomoty. During Prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages was restricted or illegal. 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. Instead, Alcohol became more dangerous to consume, organized crime blossomed, courts and prisons systems became overloaded, and endemic corruption of police and public officials occurred. The dichotomy in this is prohibition vs. legalization. Before prohibition went into effect, it was perfectly okay for people to have alcohol. But as the result of decades of effort by the temperance movement, alcohol was prohibited and the eighteenth amendment was adopted to the U.S. Constitution.

    Read More

  • American History: Boom to Bust: 1920-1929

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the twenties America was in the midst of an economic boom, people were happy- World War I was over and Americans were rich. But by the end, because of prohibition, and in large part because of the stock market crash, the American economy quickly declined into the Great Depression. During this time the 18th Amendment- prohibition- was passed. Prohibition's supporters were initially surprised by what did not come to pass during the dry era. When the law went into effect, real estate developers and landlords expected rents to rise as saloons closed and neighborhoods improved. Theater producers were expecting an increase in customers as Americans searched for new ways to entertain themselves, ways that did not involve alcohol. But this did not happen. Instead, there was a decline in amusement and entertainment industries all over the United States. Some restaurants even failed, as they could no longer make a profit without legal liquor sales. On the whole, the initial economic effects of Prohibition were largely negative. The closing of breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the elimination of thousands of jobs, and in turn thousands more jobs were eliminated for barrel makers, truckers, waiters, and other related trades. One of the most profound effects of Prohibition was on government tax revenues. Before Prohibition, many states relied heavily on excise taxes in liquor sales to fund their budgets. Almost 75% of New York’s revenue came from liquor taxes, but with prohibition in effect, all that reven...

    Read More

  • Economic and Social Effects of Prohibition

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty, death rates, and improve both the economy, and the quality of life for all Americans. These goals were far from achieved. The prohibition amendment of the 1920's was ineffective because it was unenforceable. Instead, it caused various social problems such as: the explosive growth of organized crime, increased liquor consumption, massive murder rates and corruption among city officials. Prohibition also hurt the economy because the government wasn’t collecting taxes on the multi-billion dollar a year industry.

    Read More

  • dsfg sdf gdsfg

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...refore, rather than focusing on the quality of the alcohol being produced; moonshiners started to focus on the quantity. Since the quantity of alcohol being produced significantly increased, the quality slowly deteriorated. This enabled moonshiners to use “toxic ingredients to create alcohol, thus causing individuals to go blind, become paralyzed or even die”

    Read More

  • Prohibition: The Effects Of Alcohol On The American Family

    211 Words  | 1 Pages

    The effects of alcohol on Americans began to create instability within the lives of individuals, families, the workplace and society. There was a clear disturbance in American family life. The American family life was being altered by the extreme use of alcohol in the everyday life of men in America. Addiction to drugs resulted in a decrease in productivity, increase in poverty, more significant health risks, and an emotional toll on the family members. The government enacted Prohibition to prevent the breakdown of the American society by enforcing laws to prevent crimes and violence caused by alcohol consumption. Prohibition became law via the 18th Amendment in 1920 empowered by the Volstead Act. This State enforcement law prohibited

    Read More

  • Conspiracy Theory and The Truth

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    1920’s the 18th amendment banned the making, selling, and moving of alcohol (Sterbenz, 1). As

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Prohibition

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    After World War I ended, the U.S. was prospering: people were buying whatever their hearts desired, young women were rebelling for reform, and everyone was celebrating the victory of the war. However, some people felt that there were big changes that needed to be made. There was a looming problem over the nation: alcohol. Not only was the public beginning to feel that the problem should be addressed, but Congress also felt that action needed to be taken. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified by Congress in order to ban the manufacturing, transporting, and selling of alcohol (Dudley 93). People like John Gordon Cooper, a Republican congressman from Ohio, believed that Prohibition was a success and that the 18th Amendment should not

    Read More

More about The Inintended Consequences of Alcohol Prohibition in The Unite States in the 1920s

Open Document