In the years before Prohibition, the Progressive Movement created a mood of reform to improve society. The United States had just ended World War I against Germany a great producer of alcohol. In addition, businessmen like John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford strongly believed that alcohol was a threat to the economy because workers would go to work drunk and would not work efficiently. The United States repealed the 18th Amendment and allowed alcohol because of increased crime, problems with enforcement, and economic need. The first reason America repealed Prohibition was due to an increase in crime. According to Winsor McCay’s cartoon, once the 18th Amendment was ratified criminals were operating more during Prohibition. The cartoon illustrates a gangster, racketeer, bootlegger, and dope seller dancing with Prohibition. Inferring that those criminal acts arose because of Prohibition. Along with that, a graph from the U.S Census, reveals that homicide rates went from 7 people per 100,000 …show more content…
According to Fredric J. Haskin, Prohibition just made the path easier for criminals to get away with criminal acts. For example, bootleggers would be producing alcohol right next to the police station and the fume created during that process would get out through the chimney of the station. (Doc C) This demonstrates how the police did not even care to enforce the law or maybe they knew about those criminal act but did nothing. Deputy U.S Attorney General for Prohibition Enforcement, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, criticized Prohibition due to the unfairness of the law. Willebrandt emphasized on the fact that if those with power and money get away with breaking the Prohibition law, while those who have no money to go to jail the law is unfair. This illustrates how from the beginning Prohibition was going to fail because it was going against the American idea of equality for