How Did Prohibition Affect America

In 1919, America was on a crash course to intoxication. Many people were worried about the American People’s future. Many men and women joined forces to help prevent this. They created many organizations to push congress to pass the 18th Amendment. Once it was passed things were downhill from there. That is why Prohibition had a large effect on America because of the passing of the 18th Amendment, crimes during Prohibition, and the 21st Amendment.
Many people wanted Prohibition. They pushed congress for a change and finally “In 1919, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, outlawing the manufacturing and sale of alcohol nationwide” (Benson, Brannen, Valentine). This sent people into a panic. After its passing, many people began to stock up on alcohol. It also left many people out of jobs: “The closing of breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the
Gang organizations saw a way to create a “black market” for alcohol, “The growth of the illegal liquor trade under Prohibition made criminals of millions of Americans” (Lerner). This showed how desperate some Americans were to get alcohol. Even some officials were tempted by money, “Police officers and Prohibition agents alike were frequently tempted by bribes or the lucrative opportunity to go into bootlegging themselves” (Lerner). Corrupt officials was one of the key reasons Prohibition was a huge failure for the US. People found many loopholes in the 18th Amendment. For example, “One of the legal exceptions to the Prohibition law was that pharmacists were allowed to dispense whiskey by prescription for any number of ailments, ranging from anxiety to influenza. Bootleggers quickly discovered that running a pharmacy was a perfect front for their trade” (Lerner). This show one of the many loopholes of Prohibition. For these reasons and many others congress was pushed to make a final decision on