Crime and Corruption

What were the reasons for prohibition?

- Women's Christian Temeprance Union (1873)

- Anti-Saloon League (1875)

made ideas prohibition was one of the top political issues

in years 1906-19, 26 states passed laws to limit the sale of alcohol

- female reformers argued that there was a clear link between drinking alcohol and domestic abuse at home

- Henry Ford and other industrialists were concerned drinking reduced efficiency and output at work

- felt that Prohibition would support and strengthen the traditional values of American people, who were God-fearing, hard-working, family-orientated and thrifty

- encourage immigrants to follow these values

- many brewers were of German origin, when USA declared war on Germany, Prohibition groups saw this as a patriotic movement

- followers saw drinking of alcohol a betrayal

What was beer given the nickname of?

The Kaiser's Brew

What was the Prohibition Amendment?

president Woodrow Wilson stopped the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors

Jan 16 1919

Volstead Act (1919)

banned any drink containing +0.5% of alcohol in it

what was a speakeasy?

- illegal drinking saloons

- became impossible to prevent people from drinking alcohol

- Prohibition created a situation where consumers wanted a product that could not be provided by legitimate means.

why was it difficult to prevent smuggling of alcohol into the US?

As the USA had more than 30,000 km of coastline and land borders to guard.

How many speakeasies were there in New York by 1930?

more than 30,000

What measures would speakeasy owners have to take?

- they would have to pay off federal agents, senior police officers and city officials

How many people died from poisoned alcohol by 1926?

50,000

why was enforcing Prohibition difficult?

the IRS (internal revenue service) never had more than 2,500 agents, and some became paid hands of gang leaders.

police and city officials were aware of the spread of speakeasies and bootlegging, however , the lawbreakers realised that bribery would buy them silence.

growth of public corruption

describe the end of Prohibition

- growing opposition by late 1920s

- anti-prohibition groups highlighting alcohol-related problems caused by the trade in illegal alcohol (highlighting the danger of illegal alc industry)

when was the Prohibition Law abolished?

End of December 1933

what was the gang involvement in bootlegging?

- they bought out hundreds of breweries

- transported illegal beer in armoured lorries

- saw themselves as businessmen

- took out their rivals

how did Al Capone cement himself as one of leading gangsters in Chicago?

- by bribing local officials

- controlled mayor "Big Bill" Thompson

- controlled fixed local elections

- controlled speakeasies and breweries etc

how did Capone ensure that he controlled Chicago?

had more than 200 of his rivals killed between 1925-29 (no convictions)

why was Al Capone glamorised by the American public?

- moved in the highest social circles and put 'Chicago on the map'

- first to open a soup kitchen after 1929 Wall Street Crash

- ordered stores to give food and clothes to the needy at his own expense

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

On February 14, 1929 Capone's men dressed as police officers raided a rival gang. They killed seven suspects execution style with their hands against the wall. Capone's men shot them with over 150 bullets.

- showed American public Al Capone was not as glamorous as he seemed

Al Capone arrest

- prosecuted for income tax evasion between 1925-29

- claimed owed more than $200,000 gambling profits

- fall of Al Capone signalled the fall of the age of the gangster

- Great Depression, Americans had other problems

Ohio Gang

- Harding promised US would return to 'normalcy' after WW1

Ohio Gang was a group of poker-playing, men that were friends of President Warren Harding. Harding appointed them to offices and they used their power to gain money for themselves. They were involved in scandals that ruined Harding's reputation even though he wasn't involved.

- examples of corruption in the Government

The teapot dome scandal

Albert Fall secretly leased out oil-rich government land to friends in exchange for bribes to make a profit

received +$400,000 from Doheny & Sinclair & was found guilty of bribery 1929, fined $100,000 & sentences to 1yr

problems of prohibition

- gave rise to organised crime

-poisoning because of unsafe alcohol, blindness and paralysis from moonshine

-imported alcohol illegally

-growing disregard for the law

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