What Events Led Up To Prohibition In The 1920s

In the 1920s, Americans drank 7.1 gallons of alcohol per person annually. As of 2022, Americans drank 2.5 gallons of alcohol per person annually. This shows the major contrast of how big of a deal alcohol was back before prohibition. It was an everyday drink and Americans were long past addicted. Seen as a solution to a long series of problems, prohibition prevented the selling, manufacturing, and transporting of alcohol, the ban of this itself provided financial support for many people who used bootlegging to get through the economic sorrow in the 1920s. There were significant events leading up to prohibition. The events leading up to prohibition began as soon as the colonies in America were established. The book, Defining Moments of Prohibition

A problem with prohibition was the jobs it took away, “The act also banned liquor advertising, and the use or sale of anything that might lead to its manufacture,” (Smith 133). Also, vehicles that were once used for the transportation of alcohol were to be seized or destroyed. So, people whose lives once revolved around the profits from alcohol were left with nothing. The rise of bootlegging soon began. In the early times of Prohibition, citizens did whatever they could to get around the laws, and lawmakers underestimated the lengths people would go to obtain alcohol. It is a lifestyle for many and a source of income. Due to the economic way of life in the 1920s, bootlegging provided financial support for many people. After the Volstead Act was passed, bootlegging became a massive problem. From doctors prescribing alcohol illegally, priests selling their wine to worshippers, and Al Capone killing many people, prohibition brought the worst out of America. Homemade brews were secretly concocted and moonshine was made and hidden in rural

borders, and lawmakers didn’t know how. A form of bootlegging was rum running, which was typically transporting alcohol from the Bahamas to New York using boats, “One of the early rum runners was a former boat builder named William McCoy, who realized that he could put his passion for sailing to work running liquor from the Bahamas to the New York area. He earned enough in his first few runs to buy a bigger boat, capable of carrying 5,000 cases of rye and whiskey, bringing him $50,000 a trip,” (Blumenthal 63). Rum running became such a big thing that people were building special boats that were able to carry 25,000 cases. Bootleggers were bringing in a huge amount of money, so much so that an auto dealer opened up on the island, even though its longest road was only 4 miles long. Another form of bootlegging was so-called ‘speakeasies’ which were illegal bars and night clubs and more often than not customers had to know a secret password to be let into the secret bar. These speakeasies weren’t always successful though, as Prohibition Bureau agents visited frequently. Next on the list is the rise of crime, starting with