The Role Of Prohibition In The 1920's
Ilan Timerman
Hartley Pawloski
English III Honors
8 March 2015
Prohibition: The National Experiment
In the 1920’s, a large experiment was conducted in the United States that had a great effect over the economy. The name of this experiment? The National Prohibition Act of 1920. In the “Roaring Twenties” people were not aware, or simply did not care about the consequences of alcohol abuse. People would party, dance and drink all night, the men drinking more than the women, as expected. Eventually, “men lost their jobs and neglected their families” (Avey, Tori). Domestic violence rates started to increase rapidly, causing several anti-alcohol institutions, many of which were institutes consisting of women, to link alcohol to increasing crime rates. The Prohibition act was then approved and officially came into effect in January 29th, 1920. But people did not stop drinking, buying liquor from criminal organizations, those which did not ensure sanitary policies: “Prohibition went into effect, the total deaths from adulterated liquor reached approximately 50,000, and there were many more cases of blindness and paralysis” (Digital History). Was the Prohibition act successful in improving overall health of the country’s citizens and decreasing …show more content…
The overall population felt the absence of alcohol and began looking for alternative sources, while mobsters and several other organizations and individuals saw the opportunity of achieving the American Dream by selling illegal alcohol. Corruption spread among police officers, politicians and prohibition agents who accepted to receive bribes in exchange of secrecy. Prohibition was, according to a temperance advocate, “an orgy of lawlessness and official corruption” (Samuel W. Small). Prohibition did not only increase crime rates, opposing its original purpose: it also establish
Hartley Pawloski
English III Honors
8 March 2015
Prohibition: The National Experiment
In the 1920’s, a large experiment was conducted in the United States that had a great effect over the economy. The name of this experiment? The National Prohibition Act of 1920. In the “Roaring Twenties” people were not aware, or simply did not care about the consequences of alcohol abuse. People would party, dance and drink all night, the men drinking more than the women, as expected. Eventually, “men lost their jobs and neglected their families” (Avey, Tori). Domestic violence rates started to increase rapidly, causing several anti-alcohol institutions, many of which were institutes consisting of women, to link alcohol to increasing crime rates. The Prohibition act was then approved and officially came into effect in January 29th, 1920. But people did not stop drinking, buying liquor from criminal organizations, those which did not ensure sanitary policies: “Prohibition went into effect, the total deaths from adulterated liquor reached approximately 50,000, and there were many more cases of blindness and paralysis” (Digital History). Was the Prohibition act successful in improving overall health of the country’s citizens and decreasing …show more content…
The overall population felt the absence of alcohol and began looking for alternative sources, while mobsters and several other organizations and individuals saw the opportunity of achieving the American Dream by selling illegal alcohol. Corruption spread among police officers, politicians and prohibition agents who accepted to receive bribes in exchange of secrecy. Prohibition was, according to a temperance advocate, “an orgy of lawlessness and official corruption” (Samuel W. Small). Prohibition did not only increase crime rates, opposing its original purpose: it also establish