Prohibition: The Experiment That Failed.

Authors Avatar

                 “The saloon is still here, and more people are engaged in the business than in the pre-Volstead days. You did not exterminate the brewery. You made millions of little breweries and installed then in the homes of the people.”

--Senator James A. Reed

Addressing the Prohibition supporters in the Senate, 1929

(Hill 79).

                   On January 17, 1920 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was put in effect, and the usage, manufacture, sales, or transportation of alcohol was outlawed. Women played an important role in the battle against alcohol. They formed unions and fought for the abolition of liquor distribution and use, which they believed, was poisoning their sons and husbands (Rebman 13). Women alone couldn’t be held accountable for the passing of the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment; male political figures with significant power supported the women’s’ fight against liquor and for 13 years alcohol was outlawed in America (Rebman 19). The American public was outraged by the Prohibition but it didn’t stop them from enjoying the Roaring 20’s.

                   Secret nightclubs called Speakeasies emerged, and illegal distribution of liquor persisted throughout the decade. Prohibition was responsible for the crime rate, which rose immensely (Hill 48). The government began to see faults with the new Amendment and “tried” to enforce the law, but still alcohol remained in the country. Average people found ways around the law, and the mob presented itself and acted as if it were invincible. Organized crime awakened in the 1920’s and profited enormously by defying the law. Wars between mobs for the possession and distribution of the toxic liquid “gold” was damaging for the country and inevitable for the outcome of the Amendment; yet the government commissioned the criminal gangs by providing bribery as long as they were working (Hill 77). Despite the outcomes of the 18th Amendment, people argued the positive effects of the Prohibition and offered statistics to prove their reasoning (Hill 81). The government had it’s own reasons to keep the Prohibition in effect and bribery was a significant reason (Hill 71). The Prohibition was an American experiment, which failed and had few positive results on the country however, it continued to be the law despite it’s failures for thirteen years because initially it was a flawed idea which the government believed could be the answer to moral decline and social instability in the country.

              The problems with liquor began as soon as the British colonies were established in North America. Alcohol was an average everyday beverage which was consumed everywhere, from jobs to homes. It affected families and hurt work forces but was never really a significant issue, and was not given much attention (Hill 5-6). The Temperance Movement began spreading it’s beliefs in the early 1800’s. The ideas of alcohol usage being a sin in the eyes of God and petitions of enacting an anti-alcohol legislation spread to countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The American Temperance Union pledging: “ We do agree that we will not use intoxicating liquors as beverages, not traffic in then; that we will not provide then as an article of entertainment, or for persons in our employment…” (Knowsley Pamphlet Collection ).

Join now!

           The Prohibition Party was formed in 1869 (In Michigan) and its main concern was the rapid growth of the liquor business (Rose 73). Strong Prohibition movements were formed. The different protests ranged, many movements formed on College campuses and by 1893 about 146 colleges had formed anti-alcohol movements (Rebman 13).

            In the early 1800’s women formed small individual organizations which came together and declared war on alcohol and showed their support for the Prohibition party. The women fought for the abolition of liquor because their husbands spent most ...

This is a preview of the whole essay