How Did Prohibition Affect The Crime Rate In America

Prohibition’s Effect on Crime Rates in America

Before the Temperance Movement began in the United States, consuming alcohol was a common pastime that most Americans enjoyed. However, after a sweeping craze of religious revivalism known as the “Second Great Awakening” had befallen the nation, more citizens began to believe that alcohol could be bad for them. Religious leaders had preached to Americans that drinking alcohol would prevent them from getting salvation and ascending into heaven upon their death. They were also told that nationwide sobriety would cause the nation’s crime rates to decrease, as well as making the United States a more peaceful, polished country. In the next few years, more religious leaders and members of the Christian

These smugglers, commonly called ‘bootleggers’ would travel to surrounding countries like Canada, Mexico, and many small Central American countries or locations in the Caribbean islands in order to attain the alcohol. A famous smuggler named Arnold Rothstein was also the first man to smuggle alcohol from England, which quickly became a popular place to use. The United States had almost no control over imported liquor because bootleggers used boats that could travel faster than the United States Coast Guard, helping them to evade arrest and successfully deliver the alcohol to the secret bars. This type of alcohol smuggling became extremely popular and eventually the government increased border control to ensure that there were not any bootleggers trying to drive their boats to and from America to get alcohol. This caused bootleggers to think more creatively in order to be able to sell more liquor. So, they would use medicinal alcohol found at pharmacies and drug stores that were extremely dangerous, filled with chemicals that often made the victim sick or even killed them. Bootleggers also made their own homemade liquor and hid it in hip flasks, which became one of the most popular fashion trends in the 1920’s during Prohibition. Medical-grade alcohol and homemade alcohol were both often lethal, and killed

However, instead of closing down, these bars would move to secret locations and continue to sell alcohol. Often the first few in the area would become the most popular, like New York City’s Cotton Club and Stork Club, the two most visited in the whole state.These illegal bars were known commonly as ‘speakeasies’ because of the low volume everyone had to speak at in order for the police not to find it. Quenching the country’s need for alcohol, they became extremely popular and were very quickly frequented by most of America’s adult population. In Chicago alone, there were over 7,000 speakeasies. However, because of the growing amount of customers, speakeasies required more alcohol. The only way to obtain it is illegally, so they paid bootleggers, gangsters, and other criminals to supply them with liquor. Now that there was a new job opportunity for the many unemployed Americans, they jumped at the chance for money and didn’t hesitate to commit crime. Once smuggling became more difficult, the speakeasies began buying homemade or medicinal alcohol, which was unsafe to consume and killed over 10,000 people. With the death count and crime rate rising, America was becoming an increasingly dangerous country. Moreover, with all of these people meeting in speakeasies to drink illegal alcohol, women decided to try drinking there because they had not been allowed to legal ones. And thus, the