Why was prohibition bound to fail?

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GCSE HISTORY COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT A (objective 1)

Why was prohibition bound to fail?

  1. What was prohibition and how did it work?

Prohibition was the banning of, manufacturing, selling, trading, transportation or exportation of alchohol. It had been enforced previously, but by 1920, the federal government wanted the USA to be totally ‘dry’. The ‘Volstead’ act was the law finally passed to enforce prohibition. In the USA, every state had it’s own government, so the U.S federal wanted to overrule the states and enforce prohibition as a law for the whole country. Although the social movements advocating to liquor were prohibited, the main thing, consumption was still legal.

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In the end, the reason prohibition was enforced, was due to the huge support. People from completely different religions and backgrounds join together to enforce the law. The main opposition to alcohol was a group, which formed around 1919 called the ‘anti-saloonists’. They set about gaining support by using propaganda posters and coagulating in-groups outside the saloons, to ward people away by intimidation and to look for sympathy by using children. The other main groups of opposition were politicians. Many politicians did not have anything against alcohol but used it as a step-up for popularity. They believed that agreement to ...

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