Prohibition was officially authorized with the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919 and implemented by Congress' Volstead Act, which "made the world safe for hypocrisy".
Prohibition was especially popular with the southerners, who wanted to keep alcohol away from blacks, and westerners, who wanted to put an end to the saloon vices including public drunkenness, postitiution, corruption and crime.
Strong opposition would come from the larger eastern cities, full of foreign-born old world immigrants who were used to their beer garderns and corner taverns. Yet, with prohibtion coming to stay, many indulged in one last wild fling before the extended "alcoholiday".
The law would not, however, overcome the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and the fact that the government had relatively nonexistent control over people's private lives. Simply put, the lawmakers could not legislate away a thirst.
Supporters of alcohol (wets) believed they could overturn the law if they violated it on a large enough scale... Even hypocritical legislators sometimes sneaked a private drink. The law was disliked by all tpes of peoples, from returning soldiers to grimy workers to flaming youth of the jazz age even to older citizens who engaged in "bar hunts".
Agencies meant to enforce the law were understaffed, underpaid and ineffective, as shown as scores of people, often innocent, were killed by the dry agents, arousing the public even further. Prohibition simply did not prohibit.
Corner saloons were replaced by "speakeasies", where one could speak softly through a window in the door before it was opened to staggering volumes of liquor being consumed. This alcohol was illegally supplied by rumrunners from the West Indies and from Canada.
While overall a failure, the noble experiment did have some good points:
-Bank savings inceased
-Absenteeism in industry decreased
-Less alcohol was consumed than in the days before prohibition
And yet, the ardent wet would still declare, "Prohibtion is better than no alcohol at all!"
Infomration taken from pages 732-733,736 of The American Pageant.
Yay!!! I can actually type things now!!! Stupid internet...
ReplyDeleteOk, so on to APUSH topics, I found it interesting that there were so many people who actually favored Prohibition...I mean, not to call into question America's moral conscience, but during the 20s, America wasn't exactly a community of saints...
Anyway, I think the most important part of this section is the very last bit, about the positive effects of Prohibition (increased savings, etc.)
The post was great, it was informative, to the point, and the pictures were cool - especially the last one.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! I think it's ironic how so many people completely disregarded prohibition. I think it's funny. I'm sure you would've been one of those people, shane! Just kidding! If prohibition wasn't repealed, our country would be going crazy! Awesome! Did you know that in the county where Jack Daniels is made, it is illegal to drink alcohol. Funny, right?
ReplyDeleteNice picture at the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree that prohibition did have its ups and downs and it was beneficial in many moral and economic ideals, but it destroyed cultures upon cultures and that led to prohibition's downfall. Nice post.
Breaking a law on a massive scale so as to overturn it. That doesn't sound very smart, does it? If it was enforced, they would all go to jail.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone can see logic behind that, please comment.
Shane, nice blog post. Thanks for oraganizing it all together. The subject is humerus being that the pro-prohibition people failed.
ReplyDeleteGood job! Your pictures did a great job of illustrating this era of hypocrasy.
ReplyDeleteI am almost positive that half of all the enforcers were really sad to see that beer go down the sewar. Why can't we just appreciate it not abuse it? Oh well! Thank you for this recap! These are great study tools, don't chya know?
ReplyDeleteNow I know WHY people wanted prohibition. Very informative, I also never knew what a speakeasy was until now.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably what is going to happen the same way if cigarrettes are ever outlawed. Good post.
ReplyDeleteVeddy veddy goot. Prohibition was so silly! Why did people think that would work? You can use alcohol for good and not evil.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my favorite part: alcoholiday.
And I agree with your other reviews, Shane. I feel a little nervous about that kitten...!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a quality review of this topic
Thank you for the concise slice of information. My appetite has been quenched for such topics as this, and I beg for no more. Oh well, Alcoholiday hurray!
ReplyDelete