It was also illegal to sell to the Native Americans in the 19th century because the fur traders were getting them drunk, then buying their pelts from them for less than value. In 1920 the eighteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed that made alcohol illegal throughout the United States. There was to be no alcohol more than ½ of 1% and all liquor licenses were to be void. Little did the government know at the time, that this would be the most disobeyed law throughout the country and it also created the largest do-it-yourself home project in
Firstly, the majority of the American do not think of the consumption of alcohol as a bad thing, instead, they see it as an enjoyable thing to do, therefore, people start breaking the law by drinking alcohol. Also, the consumption of alcohol is legal if you have a prescription, thus, the doctor will prescribe patient who was alcoholic with four liters of alcohol every week so that they could be legally drunk, and as a result, the total sales for medical alcohol went up to 400% during the prohibition. Meanwhile, a portion of Americans even made their own alcohol instead of buying it, which they called it “moonshine”. Secondly, the existence of the 18th amendment led to the growth of crime rate in America, as it helped the secret societies, gangsters, and speakeasies became popular among the public, they became the main supply of alcohol in American which helps them made a tremendous amount of money. Even the formal American President - Warren G. Harding, whom initially voted against the banning of alcoholic beverages and later voted for the 18th amendment, he himself would drink and play poker in the white house.
In 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in America (Doc B). Prohibitionists overlooked the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. Thus, there was tension between the modernists and the traditionalists. Although the amendment was passed, alcohol was still distributed illegally. Actually, prohibition spawned many crimes, such as illegal sale of alcohol and gang wars.
For example, people’s salary was spent on alcohol, led to physical abuse, sickness, and the hatred effects of drinking on families. Alcohol consumption would hurt workers’ efficiency, which some employers believed would happen. There were this movement which advocated the moderation or elimination of alcohol that were emerging from concerns it was called, “The Temperance Movement.” This movement were mainly led by women where two groups were created one in the year 1874 while the other in the year 1893 there names were the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. This movement was supposed to only work out to cut alcohol consumption, but was later pressed for prohibition laws banning the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol.
Stayton argues that Prohibition has had the opposite of its desired effect on the morals of the nation. Stayton claims that consumption of alcoholic beverages was at a higher point in 1925 than its peak pre-Prohibition. Stayton presents several facts to support his claim, showing a rise in consumption among not just men, but women and children, combined with an increase in moneys spent on alcoholic drinks to the tune of four-fold (p. 195). Furthermore, Stayton cites that the drinks available in the time of Prohibition have a substantially greater alcohol content than those that were served pre-Prohibition. This allows alcohol to be more readily abused and caused an observable increase in public drunkenness.
As the roaring twenties reached their end the battle against alcohol in the United States is just arising to a turning point. With serious controversy over the Volstead Act the country was greatly divided. There was also the extreme rising occurrences of crime, the creation of gangs and a newly established, unorganized criminal justice system. Prohibition was a disaster across America and the more reforment from the government just made things worse.
World War I increased support for temperance. It seemed unpatriotic to use corn, wheat, and barley to make alcohol when soldiers overseas needed bread. The 18th amendment, banned manufacture, distribution, and the sale of alcohol in the United States. Even though alcohol was banned Americans were willing to drink liquor illegally with gave rise to the illegal production and sale of liquor. The Prohibition is also remembered as a period of when gangsters were known by competition and violent turf battles between criminal gangs.
Prohibition was an amendment that caused the ban of alcohol and anything related to it. America was suffering because of alcohol, so prohibition was enforced. Little did the country know, prohibition would cause America to suffer far more. America was facing various problems due to alcohol such as death, crime, and loss of money. America expected to solve these problems by banning alcohol; never did the country expect the problems to worsen.
Prohibition was a big problem in the 1920s, so big that the people in the U.S. started comparing alcohol to water. “WATER & ALCOHOL ALIKE IN APPEARANCE DIFFERENT IN EFFECT” as well was “WATER: Necessary to Life, Benefits the Body” and “ALCOHOL: Unnecessary to Life, Injures the Body” (Doc 13). The list goes on and on, based off of the polar opposite effects alcohol has on a person's life compared to water, proving that it can only damage the human body and the environment rather than build it up. Many people in the country were opposed to the 18th amendment that supported Prohibition and its use of alcohol to people of all ages.
The progressive reform that had the greatest impact on American society was the 18th Amendment which made the producing, transporting, or selling of alcohol prohibited. It all began when the Anti-Saloon party gained an advantage during World War I. Women who began these reforms gained support because of their influence on the workforce. If the women had not helped by working men’s jobs during the war, it would not have been as easy. Another aspect of the war that contributed to the amendment's publication was the limited resources available. Since alcohol was made of food sources, many saw it as a waste of food supply that could have been used for “our boys at war”.
Even so, the eighteenth amendment prohibited what is arguably described as the true American past time, pushing the United States mentality back towards the smuggling, tax evading, limited government of colonial times. Consumption played a crucial role in colonial society for perceived health benefits, the continuance of daily life, and for social lubrication. Surrounding alcohol is a sundry supply of myths from health benefits to alcohols ability to keep an individual warm. A factual, important reason, lending credence to the so-called health benefits of consumption was the lack of clean drinking water. Alcohol had a higher sanity rate than water available in the eighteenth century.
This became a big threat to the society which led to more diseases and deaths caused by the consumption of the liquor in large quantities (Lockwood, 1977). By the year 1750, the export of tobacco from the United States increased. In the late 1770, the amount of liquor consumed in the United States increased to about 7.5 million gallons of the rum liquor per year. Nearly, more than 1.7 million people were consuming the rum liquor per year in 1770. In the same year, the amount of rum liquor produced and exported from the United States
During the 1920’s alcohol was beginning to be viewed as a problem. Many groups complained about the various effects it had on culture. Women complained that their husbands would get drunk and beat their wife or children. In the business world managers and company owners complained that alcohol was the cause of men coming in late and coming in drunk or hungover which directly affected
Era of Prohibition and Gangsters Prohibition was a period of time of American history during which alcohol was banned. Lasting from 1920-1933, this era influenced America to become dry. The federal government banned alcohol due to the problem of domestic violence, which caused many men to physically beat their wives. This violence was a major factor in why alcohol was banned in the United States. Although prohibition was meant to make America safer, it led to increased bootlegging, more illegal bars, and organized crime (Prohibition and the American Gangster: Discovery Education).
The temperance movement was created to control drinking and most people followed it, but some did not. all america could do was make people more aware. Back then people didn't make a lot of money so when they bought alcohol even though it was cheaper than food or milk was still taking away from their families. Sometimes when people are under the influence of alcohol they get angry quicker and sometimes hit their family members. They couldn't do anything about it since women were not important back then, and children were too young.
