Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

Prohibition Causes

• The idea of Prohibition can be traced back to the 19th century when many groups supported the idea of prohibition for moral reasons.

• Momentum for Prohibition built up in the early years of the 20th century with 26 states passing laws limiting the sale of alcohol.

Groups that Opposed Alcohol Consumption:

Women → organisations such as Women’s Temperance Association argued there was a clear link between the consumption of alcohol and domestic violence.

Industrialists → such as Henry Ford were concerned that drinking alcohol reduced efficiency and output of work with sick days taken for hangovers.

Religious Christian Groups → saw alcohol as the root of sin and evil

During the First World War, Prohibition became patriotic as many brewers were of German decent. Beer was nicknamed the “Kaiser’s Brew” and it was felt that drinking alcohol was a supportive act toward Germany during the war.

In 1918, President Wilson banned beer production until WW1 ended.

In 1919, the Prohibition Amendment (18th amendment to the Constitution) stopped the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors”

The 18th Amendment was enforced by the Volstead Act, which was introduced by Congress in January 1920 and officially marked the beginning of Prohibition.

Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

Prohibition Evasion

Bootlegging: slang for the illegal smuggling of alcohol

• Geographical difficulty of enforcing prohibition

• The US has 18,700 miles of coastline and land border

• Bootlegging was very effective

• It was estimated that in 1925, agents were only able to intercept about 5% of alcohol coming into the United States

• Alcohol would be smuggled from Canada, Mexico and Cuba

• Led to a rise in organised crime and gang members

Moonshine: name given to the homemade alcohol people produced during Prohibition

• given such name because it was manufactured in remote areas by the light of the moon (at night)

• About 50,000 people died from poisoned alcohol and doctors reported an increase in fatality.

Speakeasies: the illegal underground bars

• In New York alone, there were more than 30,000 speakeasies.

• There were never more than 2,500 Prohibition agents, and many of them became the paid hands of gang leaders.

Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

Prohibition Consequences

Benefits of Prohibition:

• Deaths from alcoholism had fallen by 80% by 1921

• Prohibition reduced the number of people killed on roads

• Alcohol consumption fell from an average of 2.6 gallons per person in the years before 1917 to one gallon by the 1930s

• Arrests from drunkenness fell

Failures of Prohibition

• About 50,000 people died from poisoned alcohol and doctors reported an increase in deaths

• Prohibition helped to create organised crime

• Between 1927 and 1930, there were 227 gangland murders in Chicago with only two killers ever being convicted

• Illegal drinking made criminals a good percentage of the population

Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

Rise of Gangsters, Organised Crime and Al Capone

• Prohibition led to a huge growth in gangsters and crime

• Mobsters established monopolies in the manufacture and sale of alcohol

• Gang leaders saw themselves as businessmen and when faced with competition, took over their rivals

Al Capone

• Al Capone was the most notorious gangster

• When Al Capone finally went to jail in 1932 for income tax evasion, it was estimated that his gang had made over $70 million.

• son of Italian immigrants

• nicknamed ‘Scarface’ after a fight he had during his time as a bouncer in New York

• was inspired and succeeded John Torrio as the leader of the alcohol business in Chicago

• controlled speakeasies, gambling houses, brothels, nightclubs, distilleries and breweries

• Built up an army of 700 gangsters who committed over 300 murders in Chicago

• 14th February 1929: five of Al Capone’s men, dressed as policemen, ‘arrested’ seven members of rival Bugs Moran’s gang and machine-gunned them to death. Al Capone himself was in Florida at the time (perfect alibi) This became known as the St Valentine’s Day Massacre.

• Opened soup kitchens after the 1929 Wall Street Crash

Topic 5, Lesson 11: Why did Prohibition fail?

The End of Prohibition

• Clear and growing opposition to Prohibition in the early 1930s

• In 1928, the Democratic candidate for the presidential election, Al Smith, advocated for the abolishment of Prohibition

• After winning the 1928 election, Hoover set up the Wickersham Commission to investigate Prohibition

The Commission reported that it was impossible to enforce Prohibition but it recommended that such measures continue

Roosevelt abolished Prohibition in 1933, during the Great Depression.