Prohibiton Flashcards
When was prohibition introduced
January 16th 1920
Which amendment was it and what year was it made?
The 18th
1919
The amendment only banned..
‘Intoxicating liquors’ and it was not clear what was classed as this substance.
The volstead act
Defended intoxicating liquors as any drink with over 0.5% alcohol
Moral reasons why prohibition was introduced
People believed that drinking alcohol ruined family life and caused domestic violence.
Working men were portrayed as taking their weekly pay packet to a saloon and drinking it away, returning home penniless.
Often unable to afford basic needs
Commercial reasons why prohibition was introduced
It was believed that drunkenness caused major health and safety issues at work, where a drunken worker could damage a machine.
Drinking also reduced the work rate of employees.
How the impact of the First World War helped prohibition to be introduced.
The use of grain was seen as a waste and alcohol was thought to degrade military discipline.
Major beer producers like Budweiser were German and to drink their beer was seen as in-patriotic.
Impact of prohibition: Law breaking
Prohibition drove drinkers underground. It was impossible to stop people from consuming alcohol, because so many people did. By going to speakeasies of producing it themselves, it didn’t feel like they were breaking the law.
Impact of prohibition: smuggling
Many people smuggles alcohol from places like Europe, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.
It was easy to smuggle across the 30,000km of land boarders, because it was impossible to guard that amount of space.
Some doctors prescribed medical whiskey
Impact of prohibition: Speakeasies
Many speakeasies opened after prohibition of alcohol, resulting in more speakeasies than there had been legal saloons before prohibition. They were very expensive to run because you had to purchase the alcohol and bribe any police officers who caught you.
Impact of prohibition: Health
Deaths from alcoholism had fallen 80% by 1921
However by 1926 about 50,000 people died from poisoned alcohol.
People were dying from things like cirrhosis of the liver and increased blindness and paralysis.
Impact of prohibition: The brewing industry
The brewing industry suffered a lot from prohibition. Most went out of business and did not reopen after prohibition was abloshied.
St Lou’s had 22 breweries before prohibiton and only 9 reopened when prohibiton was abolished in 1933
Why did prohibition fail: problems in enforcement
It was difficult to enforce the law because of the number of people willing to break it.
There was a wide spread of speakeasies and officers were often bribed to not say anything about them.
Smuggling was also very difficult to stop.
Why did prohibition fail: Gangsters
Prohibition gave criminals a chance to make a vast fortune from illegal alcohol trade. Organised crime groups controlled the production and supply of alcohol
Why did prohibition fail?
People hated the law and were ignoring it. They felt that is the law was abolished it would create jobs in he brewing industry and people would pay more in taxes and duty, thus helping to combat the depression in the USA.
