Their campaign had massive support from the deeply Christian American people. Both sources state that there was a crime boom. Source A states “It created the greatest criminal boom in American history….”. Source B tells us that by 1928, there were more than 30,000 speakeasies in New York alone: “Gangsters like Dutch Schulz and Al Capone made Prohibition into big, violent business”. These gangsters ran bootleg alcohol across the borders of America and Canada and Mexico. Anyone who got in the way was bribed or disposed of.
“Were the Artists of these two posters for or against Prohibition?”
The artist of source C was for Prohibition because of how he shows the woman weeping and the way the picture is set out to show the man giving the money away. I think source D is also for prohibition. It catches the ordinary mans in the streets eye, and because it is two children looking poor, hungry and sad. It might make man think if they have a family of their own not to waste money on drink but take it home to feed their children.
Source C - published in 1910. This poster was published long before the amendment came into force. It depicts a saloon full of men. The man at the bar is handing over money. A sign over the top reads, “Weeks wages”. Behind the bar is a very happy barman who looks pleased to be taking this man’s money. The man handing over the money looks a bit drunk. There is a second picture circled within the main picture, a woman with her head and arms stretched across the table looking very distressed. Her child sits watching. The caption reader: “The saloon is well named the Poor man’s club. It keeps its member and their families always poor) which means men drink their wages away and their family suffers. This poster is for Prohibition. The second poster has the heading “Daddy’s in There”. Two children stand outside a saloon. They look miserable, lonely and needy. Underneath the poster, the caption says “And our shoes and stockings and food are in the saloon too and they’ll never come out”. This is yet another reference to drink being evil and causing families to suffer as a result. It was published in 1915. This poster was also for Prohibition. The Anti Saloon League made the point that saloons were destroying the home by the husband spending all the money on drink and not having enough money for the family. This is clearly shown by the suffering of the woman shown in Source C and the little girl and her brother saying and in source D, by the little girl saying to her brother “And our shoes and stockings and food are in the saloon too, and they’ll never come out”.
Alcoholism was the main reason for the banning of alcohol. By the spending of the week’s wages in the saloons, the family might not be able to eat. The slogan “The poor man’s club – the most expensive in the world to belong to” was very true for families in America before the Prohibition. The artist of Source C was for Prohibition because of how he shows the woman weeping and the way the picture is set out to show the man giving the money away. I think source D is also for Prohibition. It catches the ordinary man-in-the-street’s eye and because it is
Guy Hollidge year 11 - History Coursework Mr Przybylski November 2002-11-27
two children looking poor, hungry and sad it might make him think twice before he spends all his money on alcohol.
Source E: I think that the more reliable source is E because when it was written and that person that wrote it, John D Rockerfeller Jr. He was an industrialist and wouldn’t have been affected by prohibition. John F Kramer said is the first prohibition commissioner and needs to show strength and to show that it will work. The speech that he made was at the beginning of prohibition and no one knew what would happen. J D Rockerfeller wrote source E to a friend after prohibition failed.
“I hoped that it would be widely supported be the public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognised”(1932) this shows that rockerfeller was pro prohibition and hated alcohol. He was using an emotive argument to show ho w he felt. Rockerfeller wouldn’t be biased on that front because his business wouldn’t be affected by prohibition. Because source E was written after the era of prohibition the writer knew the reality of how it had not worked and so is a reliable source. History has shown that every thing that John D. Rockerfeller said was true.
Source F is from a speech by John F. Kramer, the first Prohibition Commissioner who had to make a point to the public. The date of this speech was 1920. He would not know that the prohibition would be a failure and had to appear confident at the start of enforcing prohibition.
Source G shows an increase in the amount of illegal stills seized over the period of eight years (1921-1929). Source H is statistics published by the Philadelphia Police Department showing the amount of drink-related incidents during 1920-1925. The figures show that there were more and more drink-related incidents over five years. These figures suggest that Prohibition was working because so many arrests were being made but the figures could also mean that Prohibition wasn’t working because more and more people were getting drunk. Source H is unreliable because the statistics were published by the City of Philadelphia Police Department who were known to take bribes.
Source I is a cartoon from the time of Prohibition. The title is ‘The National Gesture’. The cartoon shows high-ranking officials with one hand behind their backs with a hand held out. This meant that, whatever position they held, they were all still taking bribes.
The policeman in source J tells us that corruption was happening in lower and upper ranks of the American Police Force. He is himself and ordinary police officer taking only of Chicago. The remarks about his superior officers are probably only rumours. Also there is no evidence that the lower-ranking officers were involved either. It appears to be opinion rather than fact. The police officer talks only of corruption within the police force. Source I shows politicians, police officers, Prohibition officers and members of the Supreme
Guy Hollidge year 11 - History Coursework Mr Przybylski November 2002-11-27
Court of Justice. Source I is saying that corruption is all over the country. This would back up source J that the police force was involved in this. Source I shows people in high-ranking jobs taking “backhanders”. This backs up source J’s comment on superior officers taking bribes. There is no evidence in source I to back source J that ordinary officers were corrupt.
Source J tells us how the police if they tried to enforce the law they were sent to a dull part of town. This source also tells us there was a conspiracy by the superior officers were involved by being bribed to turn a blind eye to what was happening in the Polish neighbourhood of Chicago. “A man dashed up to me and said, ‘this is for you’. He handed me an envelope, I took it and he was gone. I opened it and there was $75 in it’”. This shows that police on the streets were being bribed. Since Prohibition agents were paid very little and it was very for criminals to bribe them to “turn a blind eye”.
Conclusion
Do the sources support the view that the failure of prohibition was inevitable?
Source A supports the view that prohibition was going to fail because is states that there was widespread crime. “For no earlier law had gone against the daily customs… of so many Americans”. Source B just mentions that “Al Capone had turned the avoidance of prohibition into nig violent business”. It doesn’t make a judgement. Sources C and D are for prohibition but do not state that it would fail. Source E the speaker didn’t think at the time that prohibition would fail so he would not be saying that it would inevitably fail but he did admit that prohibition did fail in the end. The view in source F is optimistic that prohibition was going to work but it was fold that prohibition was a complete failure. Source G and H show that prohibition wasn’t working and it was a failure but it doesn’t state that prohibition was bound to fail. Source I is saying that prohibition was not going to work because all the people that were in power taking bribes so that they would turn a blind to drinking and the making of alcohol. Source J is just a police officer’s witness and can not be used to judge the whole situation.