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Arguments Against Prohibition

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Bah-Bah. Prohibition was the legal ban on the production, sale and transportation of alcohol from 1920 to 1933 due to the passing of the 18th Amendment. This is one of the most significant amendments for several reasons. It was the only amendment to be repealed and the first amendment to limit citizens personal liberties. The ratification of the 18th amendment created more conflict than it did peace due to gang violence, bootlegging, and other drug use. The means for passing this ban was to reduce crime and improve the health of daily users. There were many groups organized to support this act including the Prohibition Party, Anti-Saloon League and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The Prohibition Party has been around since 1869, making it the oldest third party in the US. The Anti-Saloon League was founded in 1893 in Oberlin, Ohio and by 1895 they had made a strong influence in …show more content…

Gangs began to be formed and smuggling came to the rise. Al Capone was one of the most influential gang leaders of the this era. “The most notorious example was the Chicago gangster Al Capone, who earned a staggering $60 million annually from bootleg operations and speakeasies” (Prohibition 2009). Smugglers would bring alcohol across the Canadian and Mexican borders to minimize the risk of getting caught in the states. “The distribution of liquor was necessarily more complex than other types of criminal activity, and organized gangs eventually arose that could control an entire local chain of bootlegging operations, from concealed distilleries and breweries through storage and transport channels to speakeasies, restaurants, nightclubs, and other retail outlets”(The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica 2017). As the authorities caught on to this ‘rum-running’ it became more dangerous. Gangs began taking over big areas such as Chicago and cities in New York, creating competition between

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