Prohibition was a period of 13 years in U.S. history in which the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor was made illegal from 1920 to 1933. It was known as the “Noble Experiment” and led to the first and only time an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. There were many reasons for why prohibition was introduced, one was that a ban on alcohol would practically boost supplies of important grains such as barley. Another was, when America entered the war in 1917, the national mood turned against drinking alcohol. Also, religiously, the consumption of alcohol went against God’s will. A known fact was that Christianity helped introduce Prohibition in the USA. They even¬ set up an ‘Anti-Saloon League’ arguing that drinking alcohol was damaging American society and should ban …show more content…
Nevertheless, most honest constabularies got overburdened, taking time away from their true propose: “to protect people and their possessions, not to enforce a religious sect’s morality”. This ban caused more harm than good throughout this period, hurting people financially, emotionally and morally. As hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs, it pushed them to become criminals just to support their families. Unfortunately, the people that didn’t turn to crime, had to find lower-paying work. As Alcohol was now illegal, its purity was no longer regulated. As a result, more than 30,000 people died from drinking ‘wood’ alcohol. While fruit, vegetable, and grain alcohol is usually safe, alcohol made from wood was not. Anybody who was lucky to survive, were permanently blind or had severe organ damage. A ban on alcohol made cigarette smoking a national habit. By 1930, cigarettes were legal everywhere and consumption nearly tripled. Smoking became fashionable and a sign of rebellion. It was also far more harmful and addictive than