Key Question 3: Crime and corruption Flashcards
When was the Volstead Act implimented?
1919
What was the Volstead Act?
The legalisation of alcohol without definition.
When was the Eighteenth Amendment?
16 January 1920
What was the Eighteenth Amendment?
The constitutional implementation of prohibition and implementing punishments for breaking the law.
Who supported prohibition?
The Anti-Saloon League, Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Methodists and Baptists church.
Why did religious groups support prohibition?
They proclaimed alcohol to be of the devil and it disobeyed Christianity.
People who sold alcohol were?
Bootleggers
Who were Rum-runners?
People who smuggled alcohol into the USA from Canada and Mexico.
Who were Moonshiners?
People who distilled their own alcohol from their home.
What were speakeasies?
Illegal drinking bars.
How many Speakeasies were in New York by 1925?
10, 000 Speakeasies
What would gangsters do to avoid arrest?
Bribery of police officers, judges and politicians to turn a blind eye.
Who was Prohibition Commissioner in 1921?
John F. Kramer
What was the Prohibition Commissioner?
An informant who employed agents to close speakeasies and support the failing legal system.
How many agents did Kramer employ?
A cohort of 3, 000 agents.
Why were agents ineffective?
Their low salary and small number made agents easy to bribe.
When and where was Al Capone born?
Brooklyn, New York, 1899, to an immigrant family.
What was Al Capone’s ‘gang’ focused upon?
A multi-million dollar bootlegging, prostitution and gambling racket acting out of Chicago during the 1920’s.
When was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
February 14, 1929
Where was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
A garage in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois
What happened in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
Seven members of ‘Bugs’ Moran North Side Gang were machine gunned against a garage wall by four rivals posing as police.
Who was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre ascribed to?
Al Capone despite residing at his Florida mansion at the time.
What was the result of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
Nothing, there was too little evidence and the perpetrators were never convicted.
When was Warren G. Harding elected?
President of the USA in 1920.
