Why Is Prohibition Important In The 1920s

Marissa Olivas
The Prohibition Era from 1920 to 1933
During the 1920s the United States had just come out of WWI and this called for celebration. Americans were in no mood to be deprived of anything, automobiles and other indulgences were on a rise. Also during this time temperance movements were also on a rise.
This movement was led by rural Protestants and social progressives in both the Democratic and
Republican parties, called the Dry Crusaders. Due to this rise changes were being made that would not be too favorable to the American people. The ratification of the 18th amendment was done in 1919 due to this movement, and soon after the Prohibition began many changes and events also started. There were many events that happened but the most significant ones were the
Volstead Act,
Capone was responsible for many brutal acts of violence, 600 hundred killing occurred in 1920. He used bribes in order to continue with his business in Chicago, some bribes were as big as a quarter of a million to law enforcement and politicians.
There were many issues that caused the prohibition to fail. The first issue that was significant was the lack of agents in the Prohibition Bureau. Also the historical timing of this law was not beneficial because just after the First World War Americans did not want to go without anything including alcohol. By the end of the decade the consumption of alcohol had gone back to the same level it was before the prohibition and organized crime casted a gloomy mood to this era. By 1930’s the prohibition had basically failed and therefore on December of 1933 the
18th amendment had been repealed by the 21st amendment. The era of Prohibition had come to an end, and this sort of social experiment was now over. Although bootlegging and illegal distribution of liquor still continued due to taxation many of the crimes went away. This era was one that caused many events and issues but that was meant to be in the history books.
Marissa