Another similarity between the sources is that both mention similar consequences of Prohibition. Source A says that “It created the greatest criminal boom in American history… No earlier law produced such widespread crime”, and to quote Source B: “By 1928 there were more than 30, 000 ‘speakeasies’ in New York. Gangsters… had turned the avoidance of Prohibition into big, violent business”. These two quotes are in agreement about the crime increase, because Source A says that Prohibition created a great “criminal boom” and “widespread crime”, and Source B mentions the many ‘speakeasies’ that appeared, which were illegal places to drink, and it also mentions the violence involved. In other words, the two sources agree that the key consequence was a crime boost.
However, there are also differences between the two sources. One of these is that the first paragraph of Source A is a list of reasons why this historian thinks Prohibition started, whereas Source B only mentions one reason: the Anti-Saloon League. Source A says that reasons for the introduction of Prohibition include “bad influence of saloons, the wartime concern for preserving grain for food, feelings against the German-Americans who were important in brewing and distilling, and the influence of the Anti-Saloon League”, and although Source B is talking about the same thing, it only gives one explanation: the Anti-Saloon League. In other words, Source A is debating the possible causes while Source B suggests that the Anti-Saloon League was the only cause.
Another difference is that Source A blames Prohibition itself for the increase in crime: “But whatever the causes of Prohibition, there can be little disagreement about it’s consequences. It created the greatest criminal boom in American history”, whereas Source B is more indirect and blames gangsters for causing the failure of Prohibition: “Gangsters… had turned the avoidance of Prohibition into big, violent business”.
A final difference between the sources is that Source A gives out the overall message that Prohibition was bound to fail, whereas Source B generally says that it was working for a while, where it talks about the Anti-Saloon League’s “victory” of banning the use of grain, and the fact that the amendment was passed.
In conclusion, the two sources only agree about Prohibition to a certain extent, and only in certain areas; there are a fair amount of both similarities and differences between them. The sources tend to agree on the importance of the Anti-Saloon League and the consequences of Prohibition, and disagree on who was to blame for the increase in crime.
