Duffy 1 James Duffy HIS 104 Benedetto 1 February 2018 Book Review Prohibition began in when the United States government ratified the 18th amendment to the United States Constitution, which was to formally outlaw the sale and manufacturing of alcohol in the United States. The National Prohibition Act, known most as the Volstead Act, was carried out with the full intent of the 18th Amendment. This led to a boom for illegal ways that regular citizens could get their supply of alcohol. The creation boom of Speakeasies and Bootleggers made it very difficult for respective government officials to control. This temperance movement was felt locally and nationwide. As a result, this affected everyone in the whole entire country. …show more content…
Then when they would arrive home their wives would ask where the money they had made had went. Unfortunately, it would all be gone. Organizations like the Anti-Saloon League and The Woman's Christian Temperance Union were organizations who called for the government to make alcohol illegal. The Anti-Saloon League was arguing that alcohol was doing damage to american society as a whole, which spoke to people at the time because of the war the United States was in. Prohibitionists viewed themselves as progressive reformers, not as conservatives. The Prohibitionist party was the only party that consistently endorsed the national woman's suffrage movement, and a very large part of the party's convention delegates were women from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Ultimately, Prohibitionists were just satisfied with the symbolic victory that allowed their core religious values into the law. Many people also thought that outlawing alcohol would boost supplies/ingredients that are important to the country during the …show more content…
Organised crime and gang murders thrived and were far more common during the Prohibition era than when alcohol could be bought legally, making people think that Prohibition was failing and that maybe life was better for everyone before the 18th amendment was enacted. Nationwide Prohibition targeted saloon drinking by workingmen, poor and often immigrants, who were seen by middle-class white americans as people that were cast out by society. Overall, Prohibition created an enormous public demand for illegal alcohol that boosted organized crime and illegal activities like speakeasies and purchasing alcohol from