prohibition
In 1917 Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution which prohibited the export, import, manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. This new law is believed to have had the greatest effect on the twenties creating a feeling of rebellion and wild behavior. Many people thought this law violated there right to live by their own standards and have a good time. The Volstead Act passed by Congress set up penalties to all violators of the Eighteenth Amendment. Prohibition is one of the best things ever done by the United States Government. It single-handedly created new business opportunities and brought people together like never before. It had also created a booming new industry, and created a new way of life for many people. Unfortunately, none of these things were good things. The new business opportunities were all in the organized crime realm. With the banning of alcohol they saw an incredible boom in business. No longer did they have to rely on robbery, brothels and cons. There was a whole new business out there and it was making millions. Prohibition also united the American people more than anything since the World War. Everyo
ne, from the poor to the rich, united to break the law. Even the police, yeah sure they will serve and protect, unless they find a better deal. The police were letting alcohol be made and sold right under their noses. The rich buy the booze to spice up their parties and the poor spend their time and money in bootleggers houses getting drunk. Rarely do the rich and the poor agree on anything. But, prohibition contributed to an increased sense of community and neighborly love. Now, not only did the little guy see a business opportunity but the mob did too, and their involvement was getting strong. This was bad for the little guy because, what the mob did is, they would say to the little guy, you will sell your alcohol to me and I'm not paying more than (whatever) for it. Then they would make the bootlegger sell at a loss for them. If the little guy didn't want to sell they had some trouble coming for them. The reason the mob did this is because they wanted to control all the alcohol going into a specific city. As you can imagine this brought forth some fairly large confrontations between rival gangs. One of the most notorious gangsters of all is Al Capone. He was part of one of the most notorious gang massacres of this time.
Some common words found in the essay are:
World War, Amendment December, Bugs Moran, United Government, Amendment Constitution, Al Capone's, Al Capone, Volstead Act, little guy, History Prohibition, business opportunities, people money, getting drunk, capone's gang, prohibition united, eighteenth amendment, Eighteenth Amendment,
Approximate Word count = 833
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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