Causes and Impacts of Prohibition Flashcards
what act was passed before the 18th Amendment which allowed prohibition
Volstead Act stopped the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors
give 4 causes of prohibition
-fathers neglected families
-protection of children/babies from alcoholism and domestic violence
-negative affects on the war effort eg grain needed for food and low work efficiency
-anti German feeling, alcohol was foreign good
what was not a significant cause of prohibition and why
Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1873 bc they were women
give 5 reasons prohibition was not successful
-not taken seriously, politicians and police officers involved in illegal trade from Caribbean/Canada and bribed by criminals
-watered down for profit and poisoned to distract from bad quality
-rise in crime and gang violence eg Al Capone
-ppl created own liquor eg moonshiners
-hard to enforce
give two examples of Al Capone’s gang violence
-1925-29 had 200 of rivals killed
-1929 Valentine’s Day Massacre 8 opposition killed got away with it
give 4 ways Al Capone was able to maintain his illegal business without conviction
-controlled the Mayor Big Bill Thompson, fixed local elections, speakeasies, gambling houses, brothels, distilleries, breweries etc
-employed from all ethnicities based on talent which helped with ethnically divided land
-bribed/threatened senior police officers and witnesses
-charitable persona eg paid hospital bills of bystander, set up first soup kitchens/block restaurants on Thanksgiving
what areas typically had moonshiners
south and west
how many speakeasies across US by 1933
over 200,000, probably more
how many enforcement agents were there to deal with US population of 100 million
4,500
what progress was made due to prohibition
-speakeasies meant mixed races, genders and social classes all listening to jazz
-flappers/women more independent
what continuance was seen in prohibition
-wealth gap/ regional divide as not everyone could afford illegal alcohol or to bribe officers so became moonshiners
what was the intention of prohibition
superficially to protect families and christian values but overshadowed by alcohol’s affect on big business eg Henry Ford and the war
give 4 ways prohibition impacted the economy
-less demand for grain due to no alcohol production and overproduction of grain
-less taxes for fed gov as alcohol was unregulated
-poor people made money selling beer
-brewery industry shut, unemployed people
give 3 examples of alcohol opposition groups
-Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1873
-Anti-Saloon League believed alcohol led to idleness and crime
-Henry Ford wanted inc work efficiency
give a 2 statistics that show how hard prohibition was to enforce
-USA population 100million but only 4,500 Enforcement Agents
-1929 40,000 in jail for prohibition offences and 1,360 killed by police trying to enforce the law
