Why was the law of prohibition passed?
Why was the law of prohibition passed?
There were many reasons for the law of prohibition being passed. Prohibition originally started in the strictly religious states and spread nation wide. Several sectors and regions of society had various reasons for supporting prohibition. In this essay I will evaluate these reasons with the intention of establishing why the law of prohibition was passed.
World War One caused more support and fuelled propaganda in support of prohibition. Drinking was generally not practical during the First World War. People involved in the production, selling and transporting of alcohol could be either farming to feed soldiers and those left behind or producing weapons and war related goods. Germans were often associated with the brewing industry and obviously throughout this time, anything German was seen as the enemy. Propaganda at this time promoted the idea that drinking was 'Pro-German' and 'Un-American.' All of this motivated people to be not want to be related to alcohol. Women's role had changed during the war as they had taken over jobs previously monopolised by men. After the war it was assumed they would get the vote, which later led to politicians trying to appeal to women and get in on the 'dry ticket.'
Illegal immigrants from Eastern European countries often drank more as a part of cultural custom. These immigrants often spoke a different language, had a different religion and looked different to American's. Being immigrants also meant that they tended to occupy the lower class jobs. All of this meant that they were looked down upon by some, and generally didn't mix very well with the rest of society. Because they drank more this meant that drink became associated with 'different' people in low paid jobs. This meant that more people were unwilling to speak out against prohibition.
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Illegal immigrants from Eastern European countries often drank more as a part of cultural custom. These immigrants often spoke a different language, had a different religion and looked different to American's. Being immigrants also meant that they tended to occupy the lower class jobs. All of this meant that they were looked down upon by some, and generally didn't mix very well with the rest of society. Because they drank more this meant that drink became associated with 'different' people in low paid jobs. This meant that more people were unwilling to speak out against prohibition.
There was limited support for prohibition by different regions and sectors of society and early on this included religious people in southern and mid-west states.
Prohibition had started in states such as Kansas in the late 1800's. This early prohibition in southern states tended to be founded upon idealistic religious beliefs. Prior to prohibition drinking was heavy, and consequently very religious people saw this as a threat and an interference of religious life. Religious people had been known in the southern and mid-west states, and later spreading all over America, to use propaganda stating saloons as 'cursed.' Although the southern and mid-west states tended to be more religious than the rest of America, the whole of America was much more conservative and religious than it is now. Therefore propaganda used by religious people would have scared some, and made others ashamed to stand up against prohibition.
Protestant businessman also supported prohibition. They set up the Anti-Saloon League in 1893 intent on destroying the liquor trade. This group was made up of professional people, and later included Henry Ford. The motivation of members' being that drunken employees negatively affected productivity, and also if workers spent less money on alcohol theoretically they would spend more on products produced. The Anti-Saloon League used propaganda by stating drinking as the cause of 'German brutality and cruelty'. As German's were seen as the enemy because of World War I this was an affective method to weaken the glamorous image of drinking to one of brutality and drunkards. In addition to this they suggested that alcohol was connected with murder, epilepsy, cholera and fevers'. The Anti-Saloon League also suggested that prohibition would make America more hardworking and moral. All of this meant that people again, were less likely to openly oppose prohibition even if they did not personally agree with it.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union was an active campaigner for prohibition. It connected drinking and alcohol with domestic violence, abuse and poverty. The incentive for promoting prohibition was that as Christian women at this time did not appreciate their husbands spending a significant amount of time, and money in the saloons. So therefore their propaganda reflected this. They showed pictures of children with no shoes outside saloons looking for 'Daddy'. Also Carrie Nations, an active member was also pictured in many posters smashing saloons, as she often tried to.
Politicians were forced to enforce prohibition after campaigning on 'dry tickets.' Because of the propaganda and the negative connections to alcohol, people who did not support prohibition either acted like they did, or at least did not openly oppose it. Therefore when it came to voting in politicians, the politicians claimed they approved of prohibition as anyone who did not, was seen as a drunkard. As the average woman had just got the vote and openly opposed alcohol because of reasons shared by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, politicians wanted to appeal to them so they would get voted in. Therefore this encouraged politicians to act like they supported prohibition.
When these politicians got into office they had to be seen to actively work to impose the law of prohibition, because when campaigning they had previously promised to do so.
I conclude that the reason the law of prohibition was passed is because of propaganda at that time. People who would ordinarily have spoke out against prohibition did not so because of the connections made to alcohol by propaganda. World War One, religious people, The Women's Temperance Union, and The Anti-Saloon League all supported prohibition. However, with only these people supporting prohibition I do not think the law would have been passed because I know that the majority of people were against prohibition. But, the propaganda used by pro-prohibition supporters caused people who would previously have spoke out against the law to stay silent. If politicians had had open support from the other people in society, they would not have had to rely on 'dry tickets' to get them into office. I know that many of them did not really support prohibition and given the choice would not have introduced it.
