Didvided Society Flashcards
What was the prohibition?
When any American was prohibited from selling, making or carrying around any drink containing over 0.5% alcohol
How long did the prohibition last?
From 1920 to 1933
What was strange about the prohibition?
It wasn’t actually illegal to buy or drink alcohol
Why was there a prohibition?
The government wanted to reduce alcohol related crime (many immigrants were committing this)
What did anti saloon leagues want?
Get rid of alcohol in public
What was bootlegging?
Where alcohol was being made in Canada and smuggled into the USA
What where some problems with the prohibition?
There were higher numbers of violent crime and bootlegging occured
How many saloons were banned due to what movement?
Temperance movement caused 21 saloons to be banned by 1961
What did the dries claim?
3000 infants were smothered in bed yearly by drunk parents
Who where the dries?
People who were for the prohibition
Who were the wets?
People against the prohibition
What did the anti saloon league allow?
Churches and considerable political influence to elect many ‘dry’ politicians
Who where Isidor Einstein and Moe Smith?
Agents that helped to reinforce the prohibition
How many arrests did Isidor Einstein and Moe Smith make, how much liquor did they confiscate?
Made 4932 arrests and confiscated 5 million gallons of liquor
How did Isidor Einstein and Moe Smith arrests so many?
Claimed they used over 100 disguises
Who brought down Al Capone?
Elliot Ness
What was Elliot Ness able to do within six months?
Seized breweries worth over $1 million
How much did Al Capone earn per year from what?
$60 million dollars a year from illegally selling alcohol
What was the most money Al Capone was making a week from illegally selling alcohol?
$2 million
How was Al Capone making his money?
Illegal gambling dens, bootlegging, brothels and racketeering
Where and when was Al Capone born?
17th January 1899 in Brooklyn New York
Why was Al Capone excluded from school?
For hitting a female teacher aged 14
Who did Al Capone join?
A young street gang called ‘The Five Pointers’ who terrorised his neighbourhood
What did Al Capone supposedly do In 1919?
Beat a police man to death
Where and who with did Al Capone make a fortune with?
Terrible Jonny Torrio in Chicago
When did Al Capone get married?
1918
Who destroyed Al Capone’s boot legging business?
Elliot Ness
When did Al Capone die?
5th January 1947 aged 48
Al Capone used to be to .
Generous to charities
What did Al Capone drive in?
A bullet proof Cadillac that could reach speeds of 120 mph
By what % did levels of alcohol fall due to the prohibition?
30%
Why did speakeasies lead to the prohibition fail?
By 1925, there were more speakeasies than saloons in 1919
In what short time did it take Izzy Einstein to find alcohol where?
17 minutes in Atlanta
How many speakeasies did New York have?
100,000
What club in New York was a speakeasy that housed how much in alcohol secret?
The 21 Club houses 2000 cases of alcohol
What lead the prohibition to fail?
Illegal speakeasies, corrupt law enforcers, bootleggers and violent gangsters
How were law enforcers corrupt?
They were prepared to direct people to speakeasies and 1/2 of prohibition agents were dismissed for corruption
How were bootleggers supplying alcohol?
From speakeasies like Al Capone who earned $60 million and by smuggling 2/3s of alcohol from Canada
How did violent gangsters get worse during the prohibition?
Organised gangs made $2billion from illegal alcohol sale and there were 130 gang led murders in Chicago in 1926 and 1927