In 1873 the anti saloon league was formed. It was a group of people who moved from church to saloons and persuaded men not to drink in saloons. They saw alcohol as slavery. Because of this group many women felt the need to join these protests to and it was the women’s war against liquor. Dr Dioclesian Lewis was a preacher and was a strong believer in the evils of drink. It was he who in the 1860s initiated the practice of walking in to saloons leading groups of mostly women to pray for the souls of saloon keepers and bartenders. His message reached Elizabeth Thompson whose crusade during the 1870s against saloons attracted many townspeople. These occurred in Ohio and as far as California. This whole temperance crusade started the churches involvement in banning alcohol and in the winter of 1874 the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was created.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union first major triumph was that they succeed in making it compulsory in all public schools to teach a course on the evils of drink. Throughout the years the WCTU went to many different saloons and even joined up with the Anti-Saloon League. The Prohibition Party owed much of its success to the WCTU. Another Prohibition Leader was Carry Nation. She was known as the wildest, most frenzied crusader of all. She led a crusade against liquor, sex and tobacco that reflected the tragic circumstances of her disturbed life. She wrecked saloons all across America. But even though every time she hit a saloon and went to jail, she only stayed nights and was still ready to start another crusade the next day.
Prohibition was supported because it was told by doctors and scientists that it led to many ill health problems. Doctors believed it to be poison that gave diseases and death. It was also said that babies were born handicapped due to mothers drinking.
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2. What were the consequences of prohibition for the American people? (10 Marks)
In 1919 prohibition on alcohol was made a law and it was expected to reduce crime, poverty, death rates, improve the economy and quality of life and solve lots of social problems in America. But prohibition did not solve any problems and made them worse. People really wanted prohibition to work but it was just no use.
Then society changed dramatically in the USA in the 1920s. This was known as the roaring twenties and people had new attitudes. People know wanted more alcohol and couldn’t live without it. Law was out of hand and there were lots of problems because of this. 1. Led to corruption 2. People lost respect for law and 3. This was the introduction to organised crime
Speakeasies were introduced which were bars where people could drink alcohol. Patrons had to speak very quietly or ‘easy’ to get in so that they wouldn’t be arrested hence the name. These places prospered as drinking alcohol became more fashionable and by 1928 there were at least 30,000 speakeasies in New York. The bootlegging business as it was known fell under control of organised gangs, which managed to overpower many of the authorities. A lot of money stood to be made from smuggling liquor and they took advantage of this. One such gangster the most famous of them all was Al Capone. He gained control of organised crime in Chicago and made between $60 Million and $100 million a year from smuggling alcohol at the height of his success. He was extremely ruthless and this was shown in one of the most horrific and famous gangster shoot-outs ever which occurred on Valentines Day, 1929. For all his power, Capone still had enemies from other surviving gangs in the city. He drove everywhere in armour plated limousine and wherever he went, so did his armed bodyguards. Violence was a daily occurrence in Chicago.
When the Wall Street crash happened people began to realise that prohibition wasn’t solving any of America’s problems. Because of it being illegal to sell, distribute or manufacture alcohol people created their own alcohol and they were known as gut rot, moonshine and also alcohol was brought in to America called bootleg. During the 1920s crime figures rocketed. Previously law-abiding citizens became criminals for having an alcoholic drink. Therefore far from reducing the crime rate in the USA prohibition increased it. The police produced crime figures for drink related offences and whereas only 14,313 people were charged with the same for being drunk in 1920 in Philadelphia, in 1925 51,361 people were charged with the same offence. Not only this but attitudes to the law changed. Many people caught drinking would be convicted by the jury, in fact only 20 people were ever convicted in New York between 1921 and 1925. People were now so upset because of the fact that prohibition had ruined America so people built up a group called the Women’s organisation for national prohibition reform (WONPR). So in conclusion the consequences of prohibition were actually really bad when drink was legal. And that prohibition increased crime rates in America.