American Prohibition

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1.) Sources A and B are both sources from American history books published in the 70's. Both start with reasons as to why prohibition was established but both suggest preservation of grain for the war to be a main factor and the action of two groups the anti saloon league and the women's Christian temperance union. In my own opinion I think the sources both agree with each other quite well both stating similar and identical answers to why prohibition was enforced.

  1. I believe both artists were for prohibition the first poster shows a stick thin little girl and her little brother stood outside of a speak easy or a saloon the text reads “daddy's in there-- and our shoes and stockings and food are in there too and they'll never come out” this obviously states that the father is spending his hard earned money not on the children and their well-being but on the drink inside of the saloon this scene is meant to show the fathers who spend their money on the drink to be bad parents. The second poster shows a man handing over a bag labelled “weekly wages” the title at the top reads “the poor man's club” the poster is branding the saloon the poor man's club showing how the high payments for beer and alcohol keeps its “members” or customers always poor, the pop out circle at the bottom of the poster shows the his family sat at home, the mother weeping at the table, and the small child looking into an empty bowl. on the floor lies an eviction notice, again this poster shows how the drinkers who spent all their money on the alcohol they were addicted to were ruining their families, and stating that drinking men were again bad parents. I believe both posters are against drinking and in favour of prohibition by showing the poor conditions of the family's while drinking was legal.
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  1. Sources E and F are a letter and a speech from different periods in time. Source E is a letter written in 1932 by John d. Rockefeller the time when prohibition has dramatically failing in America. Source F is a speech by John Kramer the first prohibition commissioner speaking in 1920. As evidence of prohibition source F is not very good. It was said at the beginning of the dry era and was spoken by a man who was highly optimistic about prohibition and the ease that America would bow down to its rule. Source E however was ...

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