Assessment of the View that Prohibition was Doomed a Failure from the Start

Assessment of the View that Prohibition was Doomed a Failure from the Start

Prohibition: was the ban on the manufacturing, sale or transportation

of alcohol during the period of prohibition, 1919-1933.

Speakeasies: were bars in the cities which sold alcohol on demand

illegally. A lot these needed a password to get in. Clubs or bars such

as these were set up illegally during the prohibition.

Bootlegger: was a person who illegally transported alcohol to and fro

various places, during the period of prohibition, which lasted 14

years.

There were many arguments used to persuade Americans to support the

prohibition campaign. Each of the sources 1-7 clearly illustrate the

negative side of drinking, supporting my point backed by the various

sources. Source 1 portrays a drunken man as being unpatriotic because

of World War 1 in Europe, money was owed to America. Many immigrants

had migrated to America and set up businesses such as bars and

saloons. So when an American went to, say a German owned bar it was

seen as unpatriotic for that reason. Source 2 is from an Anti-saloon

League pamphlet. On the pamphlet it clearly states that drinking

alcohol is un-American, pro-German, crime-producing, food wasting,

youth corrupting, home wrecking and treasonable. Source 3 describes

the effects or alcohol. Source 4 illustrates a picture of beer barrels

labelled with delirium, tremens', cholera, collapse, murder and fever

clearly indicating what alcohol can do to you. Source 5 is from a

sermon stating that the curse of the almighty God is on the saloon.

Source 6 illustrates a young man spending his weekly wages in a bar

while a picture in the bott...

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...us bootleggers such as Bill

McCoy where you get the phrase the real McCoy. Alcohol was easily

redirected avoiding agents. Geographical factors nonetheless worked

against the prohibition.

The judicianal system failed the prohibition in a number of ways. Many

juries in the prohibition case were lenient because they were breaking

the law themselves. One jury in San Francisco was found drinking the

evidence. The judicianal system was however not entirely to blame, due

to gangsters it was difficult to bring witnesses to trial, because

they were usually murdered and the case would collapse.

In conclusion, the statement that the prohibition was doomed a failure

from the start, is a statement I have to agree with. Mainly due to the

fact that there was a lot more factors working against prohibition

than for prohibition.