After its implementation, the Prohibition Act changed the U.S. society considerably during the 1920’s. Although the prohibition of drinking, selling and transporting alcohol was supposed to reduce crime, poverty, death rates and improve the quality of life, the ‘Noble experiment’ did the opposite. Speakeasies were introduced as places where people could come and drink alcohol. Patrons had to speak very quietly or ‘easy’ in order to avoid arrest. These places flourished as drinking became fashionable. By 1928 there were at least 30,000 situated in New York. This undermined the basic principles of the prohibition, and as they were illegal institutions, their very existence represented an increase in crime.
Officials were appointed as in an attempt to enforce the Prohibition laws. The first commissioner was John Kramer who was given $2.2 million by congress. But with only 1,550 federal agents and over 18, 000 miles of huge and virtually uncontrollable coastline, it was extremely difficult to prevent immense quantities of liquor form entering America. Agents had very little knowledge of technical systems and were poorly paid. This underlines the opportunities given to criminal activities to operate. Furthermore, agents readily accepted bribes to compensate low pay. Again this shows that there was a liability in even those who were supposed to enforce the prohibition laws.
Barely 5% of alcohol was prevented from entering illegally in the U.S.A in the 1920’s. The ‘bootlegging business’ as it was known fell under the control of organized gangs, which managed to overpower much of the authorities. This further highlights the fact that the authorities were unable to deal with this influx of crime. Criminals knew that there was a lot of money to be made from selling alcohol. Perhaps the most notorious gangster who took full advantage of this opportunity was Al Capone. Al Capone gained control of organized crime in Chicago and made between 60 and 100 million dollars at the height of his success. Gangs like Al Capone’s emerged throughout America all in competition with one another to profit from selling alcohol and various other drugs. Gang wars terrorised America’s major cities. Over 400 gang related murders were recorded during one year in Chicago. This huge scale of gang warfare was partly due to people dependence upon gangsters. Many people wanted alcohol and knew that through gangsters they could attain it. Crimes involving gangsters became increasingly violent due to new inventions such as the machine gun and car.
During the 1920’s crime figures rocketed. Previous law-abiding citizens became criminals for having an alcoholic drink which they had no intention of giving up. Therefore, far from reducing crime rate, Prohibition increased it. Furthermore, resources being used to enforce other laws were deflected to enforcing prohibition so these suffered as well.
Black market violence increased and destroyed many law abiding jobs. Police figures for drink related offences increased from 14,313 in Philadelphia 1920 to 51,361 in 1925. Crime was encouraged as people refused to stop drinking and could easily find somewhere to do it. People’s attitudes towards the law changed. Many people caught drinking were not convicted by the Jury. Only 20 people from 6904 cases of breaking prohibition law in New York in the period 1921-1925 were ever convicted. Judges were sympathetic to offenders as they were probably guilty of drinking themselves or of knowing people who did. The Foreman of the Grand Jurors even stated that ‘…they will not convict men for crimes they themselves are committing.’ Prohibition agents became powerless to enforce a law that so many people were prepared to break.
The smuggling of alcohol in the 1920’s was very hard to control in the U.S. particularly as its borders were those of Canada and Mexico, neither of which were dry at the time. People also hid alcohol wherever possible, in water bottles, in canisters, under jackets etc.
A change that occurred in the American society was the rural/urban split. There were more criminals in the city producing violent crime. However alcohol was still brewed in remote rural areas. Moonshine as it was known was the most common source of alcohol. This was often extremely powerful and could blind or kill a person. As the brewing of such alcohol was carried out in very remote areas, it was extremely difficult for agents to find. Therefore criminal activity could continue freely.
As shown, American society was greatly affected by prohibition in numerous ways, most of which were negative, but not all. America’s economy started to boom this time period is known as the ‘Roaring Twenties.’ This was a time of great prosperity for many Americans.
America had a very strong economy after World War I. This was due to the fact that it had sold a lot of ammunition and weapons to the allies. Furthermore, there was great demand for factory products. This meant that more people were employed and more money was being made. Most of Europe on the other hand was in a poor economical state. American business men seized the opportunity to invest in ruined European factories. When the businesses got back on their feet and started to do well again, the businessmen and the American economy stood to make a huge profit. In 1900, America produced 24% of the worlds manufactured goods; by 1928 this had risen to 39%. This made the U.S. the leading force in the world’s economy.
The government at this time also contributed to the amount of money Americans were making. With a Republican government in place, tax was low with a tax being put onto American goods being brought from abroad. This policy of protectionism further helped safeguard America’s powerful economy. The President of America during the period 1923-1929 was Calvin Coolidge who believed in allowing businessmen to make money and famously said: ‘The business of America is business.’
However the 1920’s were also a period of great risk. People wanted to make a lot of money and the banks were prepared to give a lot of loans as they were confident in the U.S. economy. Many of these loans were used to buy shares on the Wall Street Stock Exchange. As more shares were bought, more money was invested into business and industry. New machinery such as power shovels, dial phones and automatic switchboards improved the communications industry. In short, more consumer goods were bought than ever before. Production increased and became much more efficient. In 1925 the Automobile industry employed almost 500,000 people. Employment was reduced from 11.9% to 3.2% in the space of 8 years. By 1928 morale in America was extremely high. New President Herbert Hoover was quoted as saying: ‘We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of the land.’ American citizens had more money and leisure than they had ever been used to in the past.
The Wall Street Crash brought about a sudden, unexpected end to the ‘Roaring Twenties.’ As a result people’s lives were ruined. Many people committed suicide, particularly the old as they felt they weren’t able to re-start their live again. Many were affected world wide and plunged into a great depression which did not recover until the end of World War II. People went hungry, houses were lost and children were starved. The exciting, prosperous times of the 1920’s seemed like a remote memory to the thousands of men, women and children forced to live in poverty. Overproduction and recklessness in buying shares were at fault.
