Prohibition In America Research Paper

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Prohibition 2 Prohibition was an infamous time in American history that is often thought of as silly, or a big waste of time. Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States when Prohibition was voted into law on January 16, 1920. Prohibition is sometimes referred to as the “Great Experiment.” In all reality it was an experiment in trying to rid America of all alcoholic beverages. It was supposed to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve the health and hygiene of the American public. In all actuality it didn’t work it caused more crime and corruption and made the American public consume more alcohol. America wasn’t…show more content…
Prohibition seemed to work at first because arrest rates dropped and the average American could not afford the price for illegal alcohol. Alcohol consumption dropped 30% during prohibition. Which Prohibition 4 theses results would change over time. By the 1820’s the average American was drinking 7 gallons of pure alcohol. This is the equivalent of: 70 gallons of beer, or 39 gallons of wine, or 15.5 gallons of distilled liquor. With these figures many physicians were getting extremely concerned of the health of the American public. To help control the use of alcohol, reformers began to campaign teaching temperance. Temperance is the reduction or elimination of the use of alcoholic beverages. Their campaign worked for about 10 years because statics show that the consumption of alcohol dropped from 7 gallons to 3 gallons per person.…show more content…
In addition to speakeasies the people came up with many crafty ideas to circumvent the law. A few examples are hip flasks, false books, coconut shells, hot water bottles and garden hoses to transport illegal liquor. Organized crime flourished during prohibition because the public turned to gangsters who readily took on the bootlegging industry and supplied the public with alcohol. Crime became so organized because criminal groups organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol. There was much rival between gangs during this time. In Chicago alone there was over 400 gang related murders due to prohibition. By the late 1920’s more than over 1 million gallons of bootleg liquor had been illegally brought into the United States. Many of the well known gangsters of the time period was Al Capone. He resided in Chicago and was well known for the 1929 Valentines Day Massacre. His gang profited extremely well from prohibition. Prohibition 7 Roosevelt asked congress to modify the 18th amendment to allow the sale of 3.2

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