Prohibition: Which of these two sources is more reliable as evidence against prohibition?

Authors Avatar

Study Sources E & F:

Which of these two sources is more reliable as evidence against prohibition?

The reliability of a source is important to historians and so in order to make a valid point using sources the reliability must be tested. For this reason, I will be looking at the reliability of both sources and by analyzing both I will determine which source is more reliable.

Source E is in the form of a letter written in 1932 by John D Rockerfeller Jr. who was from a very recognizable and highly respected wealthy family in America at the time. They had one of the most powerful influences on the United States and had a personal wealth exceeding a cool $1 billion and the person who had the greatest share of this was John D Rockerfeller Jr. and thus making him a very influential business man in America.

Due to the high standards and the highly respected status of John D Rockerfeller, source E can be said to be very reliable. He has nothing to gain by writing this source as truthfully as he can however by writing false information he could have lost everything. This source is actually a letter written by Rockerfeller in 1932 before the abolishment of prohibition (due to the small volumes being allowed to be produced legally). This source was also written in during the era of prohibition which meant that John D Rockerfeller had actually seen what had been happening because of prohibition at the time and hence it also made him a witness of the effects. The fact that it was written during the time also meant that the writer had a complete understanding of what was happening in the world around him.

Join now!

Also, the fact that source E is a letter and not something that will be made public, or was something to be made public, makes it more reliable because the writer was not trying to convince anyone and it was his own understanding of the situation and it’s his account, his experience and his beliefs of what was happening. The Source can also said to be strongly reliable because it agrees with other sources for example source A & B. The messages that are expressed by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti- saloon league all strongly agree ...

This is a preview of the whole essay