Prohibition
Why was Prohibition introduced in the USA in 1919? On the Midnight of January 16, 1920, one of the more favorable and common habits of the American people came to a halt. The 18th Amendment was put into effect and all importing, exporting, selling and manufacturing of, 'intoxicating liquor' was put to an end. Strangely enough it was not illegal to buy or drink liquor. Shortly after this act was passed, the National Prohibition act, or the Volstead act, as it was known because of it's writer Andrew J Volstead, was put into effect. This stated that 'intoxicating liquor' was classed as anything over 0.5% alcoholic content. The Volstead act also set the penalties for breaking the 18th Amendment. This act did not include alcohol used for medicinal purposes. The ban on alcohol was not introduced suddenly. The Anti-saloon league (ASL) were the most famous supporters of prohibition and had been campaigning against alcohol for many years. The ASL was founded in 1893 and was soon led by a broker called Wayne Wheeler. The ASL were actually making an impact and in 1908, 5 separate states had gone 'dry' (dry meaning alcohol was illegal to sell). The ASL were not the only supporters of Prohibition the Women's Christian Tempera
According to the ASL alcohol undermined these 'decent' values. Soon after the Volstead act was put into place, the Federal Prohibition Bureau was formed to see that the Volstead act was enforced. Many types of people gathered in these speak-easies, from criminals to chiefs of police and even Mayors! A good example of a city full of corruption at this time is Chicago. Deaths from poisoned liquor rose from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925. This poster shows a man in a saloon, handing over his month's wages, in exchange for alcohol. Men employed at such a low wage were very unlikely to resist bribes and corruption. nce Union also believed that alcohol was evil, ungodly and against all Christian teachings. People felt that as Germans brewed a lot of beer it must be a dirty and evil substance. He was the criminal who dared to break the 18th amendment, 'spotting' the potential money to be made. Other famous gangsters existed in Chicago such as 'Bugs Moran' and the 'O'Banions'. Posters and leaflets were showing how workers under the influence of alcohol could not perform their jobs correctly. To the labourers prohibition could mean more pay and more money saved. Supporters of prohibition began to change their minds, when they saw how prohibition was encouraging people to drink more and allowing gangs to flourish. Gangsters were usually careful to avoid hurting members of the public, for example when the O'Banion gang went to Machine gun Capone's Headquarters, in eight cars, the first car fired blanks to scare away any innocent civilians. Two famous committees were, the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) and the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR).
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Acceptance Essays
