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Prohibition In America In The Late 1800's

1205 Words5 Pages

America in the 1800's was a nation of alcoholics. On average Americans over the age of fifteen were consuming seven gallons of alcohol a year; a record high in America's consumption history. This addiction undoubtedly cut deep into the family morals, with wives being afraid of their abusive husbands. By the late 1800's there was an army of 250,000 women, also known as the Women's Temperance and Christian Union (WCTU). This Christian based group was one of the several religious organizations that fought for moderation if not complete abstinence from alcohol. The group advocated and at times harassed men at saloons to quit drinking. Temperance organizations such as the Women's Temperance Christian Union and the Anti­Saloon League, specifically …show more content…

By 1920, America entered the Prohibition Era, and what seemed like overnight put the fifth largest industry out of business. Early on Prohibition seemed like a success story with a reportedly thirty percent drop in alcohol consumption and a decline in arrests for drunkenness. In rural areas, public drunkenness seemed non­existent, but in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston the thirst for something other than soda pop became …show more content…

Stemming from President Woodrow Wilson having personal cellars to the members of Congress stockpiling storage rooms full of cider, wine, and beer. It was a plan simply destined to fail. Prohibition lasted from 1920­ 1933. The continuous increase in crime, violence, corruption exposed America's dirty secret (or maybe not so secret) that it was far from abstaining from alcohol. Franklin D. Roosevelt ran his election on the promise to repeal the 18th amendment when he won he passed the 21st amendment and did just that. The ongoing "War on Drugs" has been a losing battle for at least five decades. Similar to Prohibition keeping "street narcotics" such as marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, and Ecstasy illegal has allowed cartels to flourish and flood the black market with billions of dollars in unregulated substances. This enormous amount of revenue has allowed corrupt individuals like Pablo Escobar (Columbia) and most recently El Chapo Guzman (Mexico) to use this financial power to influence government, law enforcement, and even the average citizen. This only creates a volatile environment where violence and crime are inevitable. It also puts hundreds of thousands of people in danger and potentially exposed to poisonous and "stepped on drugs" (drugs that are manipulated or changed to stretch profit margin) which inevitably leads

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