Prohibition In The USA

By: Ben Butler

Prohibition

Production, transportation and the sale of alcohol were made illegal by the federal government (EH.net)

Began in 1920 and ended in 1933 (Walker)

Was in effect throughout all of the U.S. (Walker)

Who Was Involved?

Brought on by temperance campaigns led mainly by women (King)

“Dry” Organizations gained enough support to guarantee the new law would be passed (Feinstein)

Women's Christian Temperance Union

Anti-Saloon League

Gangsters also were quite involved with

prohibition as they were bootleggers

(Feinstein)

Bootleggers

Bootleggers sold alcohol to Speakeasies which was where people went to get alcohol illegally (Feinstein)

Bootleggers were usually gangsters such as Al Capone (Feinstein)

Al Capone made approximately $60 million in alcohol sales in 1927 alone (Galindo)

Al Capone stated, “Prohibition is a

business. All I do is supply a public

demand” (Walker)

Speakeasies

Speakeasies were bars that sold alcohol illegally during the prohibition (Feinstein)

They got their name due to the fact that you had to whisper a code in order to get in (Galindo)

New York city alone had approximately

30 000 speakeasies (Galindo)

There are still speakeasies in New York

that operate today (Galindo)

Why Did Prohibition Occur?

Prohibition was undertaken to

Reduce crime and Corruption (ProhibitionRepeal.com)

Solve social problems (ProhibitionRepeal.com)

Reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses (Thornton)

Improve health and hygiene in America (Thornton)

Meant to reduce demand by

Creating legal penalties for possession (EH.net)

Increasing uncertainty about product quality (EH.net)

Why Was Prohibition Abolished?

Alcohol consumption dropped at the beginning but increased as prohibition continued (Thornton)

Due to people making their own moonshine alcohol became more dangerous to consume (Walker)

It increased government spending and removed a significant source of tax revenue (Thornton)

Through the period when prohibition was in effect homicide rates increased and dropped when it was abolished (EH.net)

Why Was Prohibition Abolished?

It ended during the Great Depression due to the fact that the government could then tax alcohol again (Walker)

It led drinkers to switch to other dangerous substances such as cocaine (Thornton)

It divided the country between supporters

and non-supporters (King)

700 people died from alcohol in New York city

in 1927 as opposed to 84 in 1920 (King)

Connection to Text

Certain sections of this book take place during the prohibition era

Smokey Phillips father made his own moonshine due to the prohibition and was also an alcoholic

Smokey could also very well be an alcoholic; he is very shaky and is extremely grateful for the bottle of whiskey

Idgie also drank quite often during the prohibition

Idgie just had a bottle of whisky on hand to give to Smokey

Analysis

This shows how easy it was to escape prohibition either through speakeasies or by making your own alcohol

Smokey’s father could've very well sold his moonshine to make great amounts of money

They never make a big deal of drinking during prohibition, they do it just as if it was legal

When Idgie is with Eva, Eva doesn’t even bring up the fact that its prohibition, she just says “are you even old enough to have a drink”(97)

Demonstrates how easy it was to get a hold of alcohol

EH.net. “Alcohol Prohibition.” EH.net. 1 February 2010. Web. 8 October 2013 <http://eh.net/ encyclopedia/article/miron.prohibition.alcohol>.

Feinstein, Stephan. The 1920s From Prohibition to Charles Lindbergh. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2001. Print.

Galindo, Brian. “15 Surprising Facts About Prohibition.” BuzzFeed. 29 April 2013. Web. 11 October 2013 <http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/15-surprising-facts-

about-prohibition>.

King, Randy “Alcohol Prohibition, 18th Amendment 1920-1933.” YouTube. 14 August 2010. Web. 8 October 2013 <https://www.youtube.com/ watch?

v=vNQ_2_J7G2w>.

ProhibitionRepeal.com. “History Of Prohibition.” ProhibitionRepeal.com. 2013. Web. 13 October 2013

<http://www.prohibitionrepeal.com/history/summary.asp>.   

Thornton, Mark. “Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure.” Cato Institute. 17 April 1991. Web. 10 October 2013 <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157es.html>.

 Walker, Joaco. “Prohibition in 1920’s.” SlideShare. 2 November 2011. Web. 4 October

2013 <http://www.slideshare.net/joacowalker/prohibition-in-1920s-9997437>.

Works Cited