Prohibition: A Great Social Experiment
The decade that proceeded WWI was one of rapid social and political change in America. As G I 's returned home to ticker tape parades, public and political sentiment was shifting toward more Victorian ideals (Allen 61). The most explosive change that occurred in the 1920's was Prohibition. The passing of the 18th Amendment came about as many Americans were striving for "temperance". Many citizens were not shocked when the Amendment passed, as it had been in the works for years. The social climate that had culminated by 1920 warranted Prohibition (Allen 81). As the Volstead Act became enforced, opposition toward the dry act reached phenomenal proportions. Bootlegging and the rise of "gang land" as we know it came about as a response to Prohibition. The dry act instigated a crime wave that no one at the time would have foreseen (Pensoneau 21). Prohibition was official on January 20th, 1920. In short, the new amendment stated that intoxicating beverages could no longer be manufactured or sold with the exception of religious or medical purposes. In order to understand how the 18th Amendment came into existence it is necessary to examine the attitudes that lead to it. In the year after the Armistice was signed, the
The proponents of the 18th Amendment did not expect that Prohibition would become "the most violently explosive public issue of the nineteen-twenties" (Allen 212). Politicians were optimistic that the Volstead Act would be easily enforced. They were not prepared for the multiple vices and corruption that evolved from Prohibition. All of the sudden, there were rum running ships twelve miles outside of harbor transferring liquor to quicker moving vessels. Illegal stills were turning out gallons of alcohol at minimal expense. Liquor was concealed in freight cars bound for the states from Canada. As a result of bootlegging, it was estimated by the Department of Commerce in 1924 that 40 million dollars of alcohol was being smuggled into the country annually (Allen 212, 218). Historically, it is obvious that Prohibition and gang wars were synonymous. Gangsters were bootleggers who rose as a response to the 18th Amendment. Alcohol was now an illicit and lucrative commodity. Many gangsters saw an opportunity to make money and took it. This supply and demand premise produced rival gangs. There were bloody gang wars that resulted from rival gangs infringing on each other's territory. Often this resulted in bloody gang wars. Al Capone, the famed Chicago underworld gangster capitalized on the opportunity to feed America's insatiable thirst. However, Capone was not by a long shot the only gangster pursuing this entrepreneurial lifestyle (Pensoneau 22). Bernie, Carl, and Earl Shelton comprised the notorious Shelton Gang. Pensoneau paraphrases a congressional report (later known as the Kefauver Report) that was released in the 1960's: Illinois and ultimately controlled all of the bootlegging and organized with his brothers, Earl and Bernie, started the bribing of public o
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1214
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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