Unintended Consequences Of Prohibition

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Organized crime, like drug dealing and other unlawful acts that are major problems in the United States can be traced back to the prohibition. The only difference is that the prohibition was alcohol dealing rather than drugs. The prohibition was a big part of American History that started with a negative look at alcohol, that then caused an uprise in the people, and still is affecting us today. The beginnings of the prohibition started long before the 18th amendment came into effect, in fact, it began in the year 1846. Maine had become the first of many states to pass a prohibition law at the state level. They had led the way and many states followed close behind by the time of the Civil War (“Prohibition”). The Women’s Crusade and Anti-saloon …show more content…

This began the era of alcohol smuggling and rumrunners. These men and women were called “bootleggers”. These illegal liquor dealers were the people that also made the alcohol by using homemade stills to fermentate the ingredients. Once the alcohol was made, the smugglers would take the liquor to “speakeasies” so that it could be sold. The term “speakeasies” like “bootleggers” is a code name that was used for the distribution of alcohol. It was also the code word that was used for stores and nightclubs that did the selling. Since it was illegal to possess and consume it these codenames aided people in finding ways of receiving this intoxicating fluid. These people would also go and make home stills by going to local hardware stores. Additionally, they would go to libraries if they did not know how to make it and they could find it in the library. Finally, many of the industries that sold grapes began to put “warnings” on the products that would say that if let sit too long they would ferment and turn into wine. The Great Depression had begun and Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for president. He was successful in gaining presidency because he called for a prohibition appeal. He believed that the appeal would have many good things following it, like more jobs for people to make money which would help them get out of the Depression. In 1933, FDR’s idea had followed through and the 21st amendment was proposed, this amendment would be a repeal of the 18th and would later be ratified by the end of 1933

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