The Source also says that it had created the ‘greatest criminal boom in American History’.
Source B also supports this view, as it suggests that Gangsters used Prohibition for big violent business. Also that a huge amount of speakeasies had been found in New York at the time of 1928.
Source E also states how much prohibition had failed, as a wealthy industrialist said that by 1932 drinking had increased, that the speakeasies had replaced the saloon’s.
This view is again support by Source B. He also says that there was a ‘vast army of lawbreakers’ who caused a huge amount of crime which no one had ever seen before. Even worse thought that the best citizens had openly ignored Prohibition and gone against the law.
Sources G and H totally supported this fact as the statistics in these two sources show that drinking had increased, as there was more public demand for it.
Source G shows the number of Illegal stills which were seized and the number of spirits seized, this states the fact that there was a huge demand for alcohol as the amount of spirits and stills seized increased dramatically form 1921-1929.
Source H shows the number of arrests from the effects of alcohol; this figure has also increased over the years in Philadelphia, from the time period of 1920-1925. This means that it was most probably the same in other cites. This fact here is again backed up with Sources A, B and E.
Sources I and J again show the downfall of prohibition. As Source I suggests that a lot of important men who were involved with prohibition took bribes i.e. Politician, Police Officer, Prohibition Agent. Source I show a line of important men offering there hands out for a bribe. The picture in Source I supports what the policeman says in Source J. As he says that where he patrolled, there was a saloon and the keeper of this saloon would give a bottle of beer to him, anytime he walked in there. This was to make sure he turned a ‘blind eye’. He was also paid $75 to keep his mouth shut about this saloon.
If he were to do his job properly he would have been sent to the middle of nowhere and would do nothing at all.
Yet some of these sources suggests that prohibition would be a success. Such as Source A paragraph 1 which says that the Anti-Saloon League was the main reason behind prohibition and also moral fervour. But also suggests that the bad influence of saloons was to blame and the preserving of grain.
Source B paragraph 1 also says that the Anti-Saloon League was the main reason behind Prohibition as there were a number of campaign’s which led to pressure being brought on Congress.
Sources C and D also supported prohibition as these were made by Temperance Groups who wanted to promote moral fervour. They would have been spread all over the US around the start of the 1920s.
Source F also promoted prohibition, as the writer of this was the First Prohibition Commissioner who would of wanted to make a big impact on people and to make sure that they did as they were told.
But some of these sources would have been biased especially Source F as it was written by a Prohibition Commissioner and so would of not suggested that Prohibition could of would of failed.
Sources G and H did not tell us the whole facts either, so this meant the statistics of other cities and of other beverages might of worse or better.
I conclude that Prohibition was bound to fail after it caused so many problems throughout the USA. That it actually made matters worse rather than better which it was supposed to do. Even the best citizens began to break the law, which shows how much of a failure prohibition actually was.
People did not take this law serious enough and this led to Gangsters taking over cities. It also caused a huge amount of corruption and crime throughout the US society at this time.
Prohibition lost its support rapidly after becoming a law, it then lost it’s respect from other people and after this it was totally finished.