Prohibition

What did the 18th ammendment do?

Banned the sale, transport and manufacturing of intoxicating alcohols

What did the Volstead Act define alcoholic beverages as?

Intoxicating alcohol was anything with more than 0.5% alcohol

Why did Women want alcohol consumption to be banned? (3)

Saw alcohol as a means by which men oppressed them

Believed to increase domestic violence

Waste of family resources

Why did Big businesses want alcohol consumption to be banned? (2)

Saw alcohol as a danger to workplace safety (especially in large factories)

Arguments made about the impact it had on efficiency

Why did Religious groups want alcohol consumption to be banned? (2)

Believed alcohol was the work of the devil

Responsible for sin and wrongdoing

Why did WWI decrease alcohol consumption? (3)

Grain was needed for the war effort

Many brewers were of German origin (seen as unamerican to drink their beer)

Many saw a post WWI brave new world where there was no alcohol

Why prohibition failed: Geographical difficulties (4)

The USA has 18,700 miles of coastlines and land borders

The waters outside the national limits became notorious for smuggling

Smuggling was successful - In 1925 the officer in charge of Prohibition enforcement estimated only 5% of illegal alcohol was interecepted

1924 - Seized $40 million worth of alcohol → estimated volume of business was $800 million

Why prohibition failed: Bootleggers (4)

Chemists could still sell alcohol on doctors’ prescriptions

Many people known as bootleggers went into business as producers and distributors of illegal alcohol under the guise of medicine

“King of Bootlegggers” George Remus → bought various medicinal brewers and arranged an army of 3000 gangsers to hijack his product

These were diverted to illegal sites in big cities - made $5M

Why prohibition failed: Industrial alcohol (4)

Easily diverted and redistilled to make into an alcoholic drink

There was no quality control

Therefore, dangerous chemicals such as methanol and wood alcohol were masked under exotic cocktails

In one instance, 34 people in NYC were killed from alcohol poisoning

Why was industrial alcohol often called moonshine?

It was made at night “under the light of the moon”

Why prohibition failed: Corrupt treasury agents (3)

At most, 3000 treasury agents were employed to enforce Prohibition

They were paid $2500 annually to shut down illegal industries whose profits were around $2 billion annually

One federal agent was said to have made $7M selling illegal licences and pardons to bootleggers

Why prohibition failed: Popularity of speakeasies (2)

As the 1920s progressed, the nation moved towards having a good time

Illegal drinking in gangster run speakeasies became popular with many fashionable city dwellers

Why prohibition failed: Divisions among supporters (3)

The Anti-Saloon league was divided

Some members sought stricter enforcement of laws eg. be given power over appointment of prohibition officers

Other members emphasised education programmes to deter people from drinking in the first place

Why prohibition failed: Role of the government (3)

Some historians argue that Congress didn’t do enough to enforce Prohibition

They refused to alienate rich and influential voters who drank

No one in government seemed to be prepared to openly say that Prohibition couldn’t be enforced