Prohibition. Sources A and B are from the same time period, the 1970s. This makes them secondary sources. The sources talk about Prohibition and the effects it had on the USA.

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Sources A and B, How far do these accounts agree about Prohibition?

Prohibition in the USA refers to the attempts to ban alcohol sale and consumption in the USA. The term often refers to the time period of 1920 to 1930. During this time alcohol sales, transport and manufacture was banned in the USA. However people would try all means necessary to get hold of alcohol. Sources A and B are from the same time period, the 1970’s. This makes them secondary sources. The sources talk about Prohibition and the effects it had on the USA.

Sources A and B agree and disagree with prohibition. The sources agree that prohibition brought with it ALOT of crime. Source A backs this up with the statement “It created the biggest criminal boom in American history”. Source B backs this up with the statement “Gangsters like Dutch Schulz and Al Capone had turned the avoidance of alcohol into big violent businesses.” The law however did try to prevent this from happening, but when the forces were corrupt; taking bribes from offenders, it was going to be impossible.

Sources A and B also agree that it was after the war and grain had been used up a lot during the war and the manufacture of alcohol was using up a lot of grain when it should have been used on the food production. Source A backs this statement up by saying “the wartime concern for preserving grain”, source B also backs the statement up by saying “Brought pressure to bear on the congress to ban the use of grain for either brewing or distilling”. They also agree on the influence of the anti saloon league.

The source may agree on many things but it also disagrees on other things such as the year in on which the amendment was passed for the prohibition law. Source A states “by 1917 twenty three states had already introduced the ban on alcohol” and source B states “In 1919 the amendment was passed and the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor was banned.”. Source A contains a lot more on what some of the possible causes of prohibition were? Source B contains one or two of those in source A. This suggests that source B had a bias tone. An example is how the author refers to alcohol; “the great evils”. Source B also seems to be opinionated and unbalanced.

From studying the two sources in detain the conclusion I have put together is both sources agree with prohibition to an extent, but they also disagree with it. Source A gives a balanced and un-opinionated account of prohibition whilst source B is unbalanced making it bias. It makes a judgment and in opinionated about prohibition.

Sources C and D, Were the artists of these posters for or against prohibition?

Both sources C and D are for prohibition however they show this in different ways.

Source C is before prohibition; Pro-prohibition. The title at the top immediately implies drinking makes you poor. “A poor mans club”. Another aspect that shows drinking makes a person poor is the fact that them man is handing over his weeks wages for drink and not supporting his family. The picture in the bottom right emphasises this. It shows a woman and her little child with hardly any food to eat, as the money is being spent by the father on drink. The baby is licking the plate of all the scraps, as she is so hungry. The poster also shows that not everyone is poor. The barman is drawn as a fat German looking man who is very happy with the money he receives. The way in which the barman has been drawn would be looked down on as it was after the war with the Germans. The sentence underneath “slaves of the saloons” is very emotive and adds to my hypothesis.

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Source D is also Pro-Prohibition like source C. This source has a different approach at showing it was for prohibition. The title “Daddy’s in there” shows how fathers would leave families to get a drink. The child is shown as a small child with tattered cloths. This makes the audience sympathise for them and also agree with prohibition. The child wants to go inside but he is too young and can’t. He mother also does not want the child to go in and see his daddy drunk. The sentence that finishes of the title is using the same method as ...

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