How Did Prohibition Affect Organized Crime

Did you know that Al Capone, the notorious gangster of the 20s, made about $100 million annually from his illegal alcohol distribution business? Did you also know that this was directly the result of the 18th Amendment, Prohibition, which was originally designed to limit alcohol sale? That being said, one would think that this Prohibition Amendment would have been removed from our law a lot sooner than it did, but it actually took thirteen years for people to realize that banning the sale of liquor and other alcohols lead to more crime and drinking in general. Thus, as seen in our history, Prohibition had a direct impact on organized crime as well as the American way of life. This topic will be covered in the discussion of Prohibition’s history, the history of organized crime, organized crime’s most notorious, and this era’s impact

Before the Prohibition era came into the picture, the mafia was a much smaller player in American life, but after the sale of alcohol was outlawed, the mafia, already known to act deviously, quickly began making and selling their own drinks, making them wealthier and more powerful in American life. The more power given to these crime syndicates through alcohol sales made them all the more powerful and dangerous, leading to violence in the streets of America’s big cities, one such incident being the infamous Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Aside from the obvious violence and such, many common people revered these mafia men as heroes for bringing them alcohol and jobs, “…such as the American mobsters and European crime syndicates thrived, most common people looked upon these organizations as heroes.” (Nash. Paragraph 2). Some people even joined up with them out of respect, but most of the time because jobs were scarce during this time. Many of these people then rose to power and became infamous crime