Prohibition in the United States

What it is?
Prohibition was a period between 1920 and 1933 in USAs history in which the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages was made illegal, due to 18th amendment of the United States Constitution. This period has been called "The Noble Experiment" by the president Herbert Hoover, and many observers seemed to agree with this assessment. "Noble" because the goals of keeping families together and reducing or eliminating alcohol abuse were noble goals. An "experiment" because most observers felt like it was an experience that failed. But at the same time, many citizens in the country saw nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation. American prohibition was a time characterized by speak-easies, glamour, and gangsters and a period of time in which even the average citizen broke the law. After a long period of torment and shame for the government, the politicians finally realized the error of their ways and ended National Prohibition, but not before it left a profound stain in the history of American nation.

Early years
Alcohol has always been a part of Americas history. It was consumed by nearly every settlement Colonial America. The first law was made in 1619 in Virginia, but was not made against drinking, but against drunkenness itself. More laws against excessive drinking, or binge drinking, were made because people did not like the idea of having a town drunkard. During the Civil War, alcohol played a huge role that worked into American History. It was considered the most helpful medicine ever, and it was also the best-loved drink. It served as an anesthesia drink, and was often used in the place of anesthesia itself because it was cheaper and considered better. It cured ailments and internal diseases to prevent infection, and soldiers were issued a 4 oz. ration of alcohol before a battle to get the soldiers into a fighting mood.

The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act

The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was formally approved and invested with legal authority by 36 states on January 16, 1919, and took affect one year later, beginning the era of prohibition. The first section of the amendment reads: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all

territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Essentially, the 18th Amendment took the business licenses away from every brewer, distiller, vintner, wholesaler and retailer of alcoholic beverages in the United States in an attempt to reform an unrespectable segment of the population. Three months before it was to take effect, the Volstead Act, otherwise known as the National Prohibition Act of 1919, was passed and gave power to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, his assistants, agents, and inspectors to enforce the 18th Amendment. While it was illegal to manufacture or distribute beer, wine, or other intoxicating malt or vinous liquors it was not illegal to possess it for personal use. The provision allowed Americans to possess alcohol in their homes and partake with family and guests as long as it stayed inside and was not distributed, traded or even given away to anyone outside the home. Though, The Volstead Act allowed alcohol consumption if it was prescribed by a doctor. Needless to say, large numbers of new prescriptions were written for alcohol. For centuries liquor had been used for medicinal purposes. In fact, many of the liqueurs we know today were first developed as miracle cures for various ailments. Despite the fact that in 1916 whiskey and brandy were removed from The Pharmacopeia of the United States of America and in 1917 the American Medical Association stated that alcohol use in therapeutics as a tonic or stimulant or for food has no scientific value there was still a belief in liquor's medicinal benefits among many.

Crime
Before Prohibition started, the crime rate in the US had reached an all time high. Many people thought that these were all related to alcohol and banning alcohol would lower the crime rate and maybe get rid of crime altogether. Alas, that was not to be. Soon after National Prohibition was passed, the crime rate shot past the all-time high and created the highest homicide rate of the early 20th century. Making alcohol at home was very common during Prohibition. Stores sold grape concentrate with warning labels that listed the steps that should be avoided to prevent the juice from fermenting into wine. As well, some drug stores would sell a "medical wine" with around 22% alcohol content; in order to justify the sale, the wine was given a medical taste. Home-distilled hard liquor was referred to as bathtub gin in northern cities, and moonshine in the rural areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Home-brewing good hard liquor was easier than brewing good beer. Since selling privately distilled alcohol was illegal and bypassed taxation by the government, the law relentlessly pursued manufacturers. For people who didn't buy cases of alcohol in advance or know a "good" doctor, there were illegal ways to drink during Prohibition. A new breed of gangster arose during this period. These people took notice of the amazingly high level of demand for

alcohol within society and the extremely limited avenues of supply to the average citizen. Within this imbalance of supply and demand, gangsters saw profit. Al Capone in Chicago is one of the most famous gangsters of this time period. These gangsters would hire men to smuggle in rum from the Caribbean (rumrunners) or hijack whiskey from Canada and bring it into the U.S. Others would buy large quantities of liquor made in homemade stills. The gangsters would then open up secret bars (speakeasies) for people to come in, drink, and socialize. During this period, newly hired Prohibition agents were responsible for raiding speakeasies, finding stills, and arresting gangsters, but many of these agents were under-qualified and underpaid leading to a high rate of bribery. The bootleggers in southern states started creating their own, stock-looking cars by enhancing their cars engines and suspensions to create a faster vehicle. Having a faster vehicle during Prohibition, they presumed, would improve their chances of outrunning and escaping agents of the Bureau of Prohibition, commonly called "revenue agents" or "revenuers." These cars became known as moonshine runners or "shine runners". Ships were also known to collaborate with the underground liquor market, by loading their stocks with ingredients for liquors, which anyone could legally purchase (these include: vermouth, scotch mash, and even ethyl alcohol).

Other effects
Other than crime there were many other effects on people during Prohibition. Most of the effects were harmful to the people in America. There were many people who were harmed financially, physically or emotionally. These effects could have been avoided if Prohibition had not been passed. Due to Prohibition, there was much more immorality involving women. Women started to drink beer and hard liquor. Before prohibition many women might have had a small glass of wine at home. Also, because of the environment in speakeasies men and women tended to be in closer contact. There was a great increase of unmarried sexual activity in the 1920s. Prostitution was also booming during Prohibition, although many professionals were angry that other women were ruining the market by giving their service away. Overall, the great move towards morality promised by religious leaders was nowhere in sight. At the same time people have been exposed to other drugs such as narcotics, hashish, and marijuana. These drugs were much more addictive and much more dangerous than alcohol. Tobacco also became more popular during Prohibition. It is also more deadly than alcohol. Tobacco was the next substance that people wanted to prohibit. There were already laws prohibiting tobacco in fourteen states and bills were pending in twenty eight other states. When alcohol was prohibited by the same people pressing the bills to ban tobacco, it made it almost irresistible to start smoking. During prohibition cigarette consumption almost tripled. This led to many more people being harmed due to Prohibition. One of the effects of Prohibition was diseases. One of the goals of Prohibition was to cut down on deaths related to cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is a disease in the liver that is

caused by excessive drinking. Women who consume more than four drinks a day were at even higher risk of contracting cirrhosis. However, alcohol use went up during Prohibition, and the goal was not achieved. Other than this disease many people were disabled or killed due to wood alcohol. Before prohibition the government had standards for alcohol. But when alcohol became illegal these standards deteriorated. Before prohibition alcohol was made from vegetables, fruits, and grains. This tended to be safe. You could also make alcohol from wood products. This alcohol is not safe. But, nevertheless, wood alcohol tastes the same, smells the same, and is cheaper to make. During prohibition, over 10,000 people died from wood alcohol poisoning. More would have died except one other effect is that before you died you go permanently blind. The drill was that if your vision started blurring while you were drinking you stopped and then tried to regurgitate as much of the alcohol as you could. Another disease related to Prohibition was Jake Foot. This disease was caused when you drank too much Jamaican Ginger. This disease paralyzed feet and legs and caused people to walk strangely. These diseases were just a few examples of the unexpected problems caused by Prohibition.

The end of prohibition

Prohibition Out! proclaimed the headlines in 1933.

The repeal of the 18th Amendment was a two-step process carried on by the Roosevelt administration; the first was the Beer Revenue Act. This legalized beer and wine with alcohol content up to 3.2% alc/vol. The second step was to pass the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. With the words The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Americans could once again drink legally and on December 5, 1933 the nationwide prohibition

was over. This made the 18th amendment the only constitutional amendment to be repealed. After that, it was the states' job to decide if a state prohibition was necessary. Most states got rid of state prohibitions, but Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma kept their prohibition laws in place the longest. Kansas ended statewide prohibition in 1948, whereas Oklahoma ended theirs in 1959. The longest state prohibition was Missouri, who ended state prohibition in 1966, almost 35 years after National Prohibition was repealed.

Why the prohibition failed?

One of the main points that people were trying to get across during the 1920s was that they thought prohibition would be good for mankind. It was hoped by people that Prohibition would eliminate all corruptions in places; instead, Prohibition itself became a major source of corruption. Everyone from major politicians to even the police took bribes from bootleggers, moonshiners, crime bosses, owners of speakeasies, and even smugglers who were drunkards themselves. Everyone needed to get their alcohol. Despite additional resources and reorganization, corruption continued within the vicinities of towns. Many Americans werent able to resist a drink of whiskey or wine, especially if they had a liking for the particular drink. If someone had been caught while smuggling a drink or two in public, they would have to pay a hefty fine. If they were unable to pay the fee, they would be escorted to a jail cell for six months or until they could pay the fine. There were so many cases of Prohibition in the courts that they were getting out of control. When someone was put in jail for committing a crime, mainly for just smuggling illegal alcohol, it was hard for people not to get caught because the drink was so addicting. Ultimately Prohibition failed because it tried to eliminate the supply of alcohol without reducing the demand for alcohol. The economic law of supply and demand tells us that this will result in a price increase and big incentives to break the law.

Bibliography:
o http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States o http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/frameset_reset.html? http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/stories/0701_0125.html o http://www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibits/ExhProhibition.php o http://gatsbyunleashed.blogspot.com/2010/05/prohibition-in-1920s.html Dasclu Melania, XI E