The prohibition was supported by the Temperance movement. The movement originally started during the religious revivals of the 1820s and 30s as people strove to be as perfect as possible, which included abstaining from alcohol, though the earliest groups against alcohol consumption started around 1800. Churches influenced the spread of the movement as people became more dedicated to religion. The movement lead to many state laws before the Civil War that lead to the prohibition of alcohol.
Despite the passage of the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act, prohibition was extremely hard to enforce. Illegal economies based on the sale of illegal alcohol flourished. Even popular culture showed a lack of enforcement, including the book "The Great Gatsby." The book was set in 1922 during the prohibition yet all the parties in the book include alcohol. Bootleggers would smuggle alcohol across the US border from Canada and Mexico, as well as on ships coming from the Bahamas. The boats would anchor outside of the 3-mile jurisdiction of the US government and move the alcohol to boats that w
ere fast enough to beat the US coast guard. Bootleggers also used "medicinal" whiskey prescriptions (that were often fake) to buy whiskey from drugstores.
Bootlegging lead to organized crime that still persists today. Gangs based on the sale of illegal alcohol were formed, including the American Mafia in New York City. Al Capone, the notorious Chicago gangster, made 60 million dollars from bootlegging and speakeasies (illegal drinking spots). All of these illegal gang operations lead to an increase in gang violence.
New York's Club 21, a Prohibition Era Speakeasy
The rise of gangs affected the popularity of the prohibition. After the stock market crashed in 1929, people wanted even more illegal alcohol and the prohibition was proving to be impossible to enforce. President F. D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison act in 1933, which allowed the sale of low alcohol beers and wines. In December 1933, the prohibition was officially ended when the 21st amendment was ratified, which repealed the 18th amendment. Prohibition was still allowed at a state level, however. All states were free of alcohol bans by 1966. https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/prohibition
https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933/Repeal
I really enjoyed reading how you outlined the limited freedoms present in the "roaring 20's". The prohibition is often compared to the legalization of marijuana and other drugs in the US today. I did more research in why exactly the government banned alcohol, and it turns out as well as the temperance movement, they wanted to see the reduced crime and health of the American people. It subsequently didn't work, but their efforts were apparently in the best interest of the American people.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/alcohol-prohibition-was-failure
The prohibition of the sale of alcohol was in a very different period than the one we live in today. The US economy sells billions of dollars of alcohol every year, and it is interesting to think that only 100 years ago it was outlawed. Even though it was outlawed, as you wrote, it created another economy that sold alcohol illegally, bringing in large sums of money for the smugglers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2019/01/us-alcohol-sales-increased-by-5-1-in-2018/
I think it is interesting how the 18th Amendment was hard to be enforced and was commonly ignored. An example of this is a speakeasy, a term that was applied to places that sold alcoholic beverages illegally. They were called "speakeasies" because people were supposed to talk quietly so they would not get caught. The speakeasies were very popular and widespread during the Prohibition Era. However, sometimes police officers or agents of the Bureau of Prohibition would raid them and arrest the owners. Still, these places continued to flourish because of the profit made.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakeasy
I found this article about the 18th Amendment interesting because it is one of the more peculiar amendments to have been passed when compared to the other profoundly altering Amendments also passed during this period. The movement for the 19th Amendment started in early 19th century, when drink alcohol became viewed as a "national curse" under a wave of religious revitalization. This movement later materialized in the first form of alcohol restriction in Massachusetts, where alcohol could only be sold in quantities greater than 15 gallons. Other countries such as Maine then followed suit, and many states began embracing prohibition. In fact, many political figures, such as President Herbert Hoover, called the prohibition movement "the noble experiment."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/18th-and-21st-amendments
I really liked that you stated that although it was the roaring twenties there were still rights and privileges that were taken away. I though it was really imprint how you connected the law and its putting in place with its roots and causes, such as the temperate movement. I think it is really interesting how these movements evolve over time and evenly take action in the form of laws. Although the temperance moment had been around for almost 100 years before making action it still made an influence in American society. I also thought was important that you included how hard it was to enforce these laws and how there were many work arounds in order to avoid them and the prosecution that came with them.
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