How Did Prohibition Affect The 1920s

The roaring 1920's was a time when most Americans were living a prosperous life filled with wealth and achieving the “American Dream”. Many people called it the “Prosperity Decade” because it was the first time in American history that people were overwhelmed with wealth and could afford to purchase anything they pleased. The change of America's economy from a wartime economy back to a normal economy had the manufacturing industry in overdrive. So many American luxuries were developed, like the invention of the first automobile, the Ford Model T, and many sports became very popular. The Prohibition also affected the 1920's, this brought about higher crime rates, and the emergence of organized crime. Also since factories and mass producing of

The main influence behind the lobbying of the prohibition was Anti-Saloon League, which only supported contenders who agreed with their views. During this time period, many Americans felt that drunkenness was an extreme issue. Even after the 18th Amendment was passed, it was no shocker when Americans were still craving alcoholic beverages. In the beginning stretch of the Prohibition Era, there was over 500 court cases in violation of the Volstead Act in Chicago alone. Of 300,000 illegal prescriptions for alcohol were issued by doctors. Moon-shining or home brewing rose up during this era. People were brewing alcohol at home in their basements, bathtubs, and other homemade stills. It was estimated the over 700 million gallons of liquor was brewed in home stills during 1929 alone. This method of producing alcohol was extremely dangerous. People were using just about anything to produce alcohol at home including, embalming fluid, rubbing alcohol, and antifreeze. The creation of this poisonous alcohol was the cause of thousands of death across the US during the prohibition

The use of assembly lines and huge factories meant that the cost of many goods kept on falling which meant that more people were able afford to purchase them. This jump-started the cycle of success-fulness in these urban areas and gave people jobs which meant that they could now afford to buy washing machines, vacuum cleaners, cars and radios. However, people who lived in rural, agricultural areas could not afford these luxuries. Before the introduction of machinery and hire-purchase, farms were operated off of manpower alone. With the introduction of hire purchase, farmers could purchases new machines, thus needing less workers, and creating a spike in unemployment. Also with the farmers using machines to produce crops, there was an overabundance of crops that they couldn't sell. This put farmers into debt and ultimately they lost their