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St Valentine Day Shooting Research Paper

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In an era of drunkenness being chastised by religion, a new Amendment was born. This new amendment was known as the Eighteenth Amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment gave the government the right to limit personal liberties. This amendment took away the right for citizens of the United States to manufacture a beverage containing more than 0.5 percent alcohol. This amendment also prevented this type of beverage from being sold or transported. Many citizens disagreed with this amendment, and still wanted to have alcohol. This law created a need for mobs and gangs to produce alcohol and create a booming business. It also created a need for police men and women to prevent these mobs from selling alcohol, but could they do it? Could the government …show more content…

Gangs began fighting for their territories which led to destruction and death. Violent crime became prominent in the era of prohibition. Capone was one of the major leaders in the violent crime. He organized one of the worst murders during this era, the St. Valentine 's Day Massacre. The St. Valentine Day Massacre is just one example of the numerous murders committed in the mobsters search for territory. "The pre-Prohibition murder rate of 5.6 per 100,000 nearly doubled to almost 10" (tdl.org). Crime, such as murder, was not the only violent crime that increased during this era. "Overall violent crime such as murders, batteries, and assaults increased by13 percent" (tdl.org). Organizations such as the Anti-Saloon League had argued that violent crime would go down with prohibition, but the effect was clearly the opposite. The prison system saw the same effect from prohibition that violent crime had seen. "The federal inmate population increased 561 percent from the pre-Prohibition period" (tdl.org). The prison systems increase in inmates required an even greater amount of funds from the government, which hurt Americans even more. It created a need for more tax revenue, which threatened the economy and hurt them even more when the economy began to decline in the 1920

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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.

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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.

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By enforcing prohibition, the government hoped to decrease the death rate. But, prohibition did the opposite of its intention, it sparked an increase in death rates, both alcohol and non-alcohol influenced. During the preceding time period of prohibition, the rate of deaths from alcohol had begun to decrease, but around 1920 when prohibition was enforced, it suddenly increased again (Document F). This information shows that prohibition, specifically, triggered the death rate to ascend, again. Also, the death rate from alcohol poisoning was soaring during prohibition (IG).

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When prohibition was passed the homicides was at their all time high, about 10 per 100,000. The use of dope went up, and the bootleggers, dope sellers, racketeers, and gangsters was thrilled because they was able to make more money during the great depression. They would sell you alcohol or

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The Eighteenth amendment prohibited the sale and manufacturing of intoxicating liquor. We would later go back and create the Twenty-first Amendment which overturned the Eighteenth Amendment. The Temperance Army

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Guns, gangs, women, alcohol, gambling, are just some things that come to mind when I hear prohibition. According to the online source American History, The Prohibition is the act of prohibiting the manufacturing, storage, transportation, and sale of alcohol, including any alcoholic beverage. This led to the biggest crime rates of all time. At the head of all the crime was one man. His name, Alphonse Capone aka (Scarface) .

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The U.S. census published in 2008 showed how in the time prohibition was enacted, the homicide rates skyrocketed. Then, when prohibition ended in 1933, the homicide rates went down again. (U.S. Census document B). In cartoonist Winsor McCay’s cartoon, he drew about how prohibition promoted all sorts of bad habits, including how it promoted gang violence and dope selling. (McCay document A).

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The prohibition outlawed alcohol to try and diminish the crime rate. This led to a higher consumption of alcohol and illicit speakeasies. As fast as the police closed down one venue, more would spring up in its place (Prohibition in the United States). Government intrusion with the Volstead Act of 1919 outlawed beverages over 0.5 alcohol volume

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Additionally, during Prohibition, 32,000 speakeasies, illegal liquor-serving nightclubs, replaced 15000 pubs. Illegal liquor trade became a $3.5 billion industry as of 1926 and gangs of bootleggers were formed. In 1929, Al Capone’s gang shot seven members of their rival gang. This event, known as the St. Valentine’s Massacre, increased competition for control of the market. Evidently, the laws of Prohibition were disregarded and protested by many.

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The Prohibition intended to limit a liberty of its people, which prompted massive growth in organized crime. That unintended consequence did not originate in one place alone: most were drawn to alcohol due to lack of clean water in the area. People who relied on alcohol to quench their thirsty suddenly found themselves between a rock and a hard place. Chicago was one of the earliest cities to become saturated with corruption. Chicago had a history of lawlessness, as criminals partook in gambling, prostitution, etc.

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The passing of the 18th amendment resulted in a whole new era of crime. Since there were no legal places to purchase alcohol, bootlegging and speakeasies became much more common. Then, of course, there was violent crime. Alcohol became its own industry for the mafia that made gangsters like Al Capone millionaires and led to over “a thousand gangland murders” (Kyvig 196). There were gangs in major cities all over the country.

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After all alcohol was still highly sought after, which helped spread more crime across the United States.

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Prohibition led to the rise of organized crime and failed as a policy due to many loopholes and large numbers of corrupt officials. Though started with good intentions it was not a good policy because it destroyed jobs and attempted to destroy an industry. These reasons lead to Prohibition’s failure and the repealing of the 18th Amendment in

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