Lane Page 5/7/2007
To what extent did Prohibition in the 1920’s change the American lifestyle?
The introduction of prohibition did have an effect on the lifestyle of the American people and not all in a positive way. In the early 1920s the US economy was growing rapidly, this period was called The Roaring Twenties. The people considered this to be a time to party and have fun! The Roaring Twenties did give many positive outcomes such as the development and improvement in the country’s economy but other than that not everything turned out according to plan. Prohibition was designed to reduce drinking by getting rid of the businesses that manufactured, distributed and sold the alcoholic drinks. Prohibition was enforced at Midnight on 16th January 1920. It was the temperance movement that put the most pressure on the government as well as the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement and the Anti-Saloon League. The two latter of the groups campaigned primarily in the rural areas. They threatened to not vote for political candidates if they didn’t support the prohibition. The churches and the small towns supported the Anti-Saloon League. It was said that Prohibition would reduce drunkenness, poverty and crime. However, prohibition managed to do just about the opposite to that of which it intended, including providing the gangsters and organized crime groups with another opportunity to earn more money, illegally.
