Prohibition In The United States During The 1920's

When someone thinks of America during the Roaring Twenties, many may think of parties, patriotism, the “land of opportunities”, burgers or hotdogs, and drinking. During the turn of the 20th century, drinking got far too out of hand. Only men were allowed to drink at saloons. Therefore, men were becoming abusive, and America became chaotic. Eventually, people pushed for a ban on alcohol. This was called Prohibition. Prohibition was a law passed by Congress which limited any alcohol under 0.5%. However, the American public still wanted to drink. Gangs and bootleggers were able to sell booze to many bibulous Americans, which gave them the ability to become rich very quickly. Although the buying and selling of alcohol was illegal, many still did

Before Prohibition became a thing, it started with the Women’s Temperance Movement. However, the Anti-Saloon League was also a large organization which helped put together the Volstead Act. The Anti-Saloon League was spearheaded by a man named Wayne Wheeler. Wheeler almost acted as a Caesar, in the sense that he was indirectly completely in charge of the presidents and all of congress during Prohibition (Okrent). Wheeler, being a member of the Republican party, definitely had an influence on the decisions he made with Prohibition. At the time, conservatives believed in less government involvement and spending (Conservative Policies and Presidents). This meant that the police force and justice systems were not paid much, and in turn, they did not care to put punishments on anyone breaking the law with alcohol. At the end of 1921, 100 police agents in New York alone were caught for taking bribes (Prohibition Mob Museum). Furthermore, when Wheeler decided to get more strict on drinking laws, too many people were being arrested and filled up the courts. Therefore, judges started letting everyone go, so that they could focus on important trials like murder (Hill). The Bureau of Prohibition, which was made to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol, had only 1500 agents at the start of its creation, and never peaked over 3000. Compared to the 106 million citizens living in the U.S. at the time, that would be a 1:70,666 ratio of agents to Americans. Congressmen started to complain that Prohibition was failing. Corruption in the White House was also present during the time of Prohibition. William McConnel, who was a Prohibition Director for Pennsylvania, was found using a total of 4 million dollars to numerous Prohibition agents and officials (Hill). Even higher in the ranks of congress, was Attorney