Essay On The Prohibition Act

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Violence bloomed, illegal acts flourished, america was in a time of huge unrest: The Prohibition Act. The Prohibition Act which occurred in the 1920’s, started a time in America of immense struggles and obstacles. The government decided to outlaw and ban Alcoholic beverages. This did not reduce crime as intended, but rather it increased it at an unforeseen pace. Bootleg alcohol became very prevalent on the black market as well as mobs started appearing across the country. A few reasons why crime increased was because of the smuggling of alcohol to be sold, the mafia starting to gain power, and just the fact that Americans were angered by their right to alcohol being stolen from them. If someone wanted alcohol then they would not let the law stop them, as proven from the past. Al Capone capitalized this opportunity to initiate the alcohol market. The selling of Alcohol flourished under Al Capone’s control, he began the reign of organized crime (Al Capone). The law which began this downfall in US history is commonly called the Volstead Act after Andrew J. Volstead (National Prohibition 1). This law outlawed any buying, selling, producing, or transporting of any intoxicating beverages (i.e. alcohol). The government was attempting to reduce violence that alcohol introduced, but more importantly they were trying to enforce the religious view of morality. The government was attempting to legislate morality, they had to even create a new amendment and then repeal it throughout the whole process. The act was more than ineffective as numerous people took advantage of the demand for alcohol by smuggling it either from the Caribbeans or Canada. The flow of alcohol in America never stopped, just they way they obtained it did. The coast ... ... middle of paper ... ...le new set of problems that did not even exist before. The mob that quickly jumped on the idea of illegally selling alcohol gained power beyond means off of much demand there was of it in America. Outlawing anything will cause an anger throughout a country and will lead to the common household committing illegal acts daily. The whole idea of suddenly prohibiting something that was originally common, will always fail as people can find numerous loopholes to still obtain it. This could almost be deemed as a fail in american history, because America created a whole bunch of new conflicts that were not their before. Bootleg alcohol, the mafia, al Capone. These things only aroused because of the Prohibition Act. So all in all, the prohibition act caused more crime, by having Alcohol need to be sold illegal, the rise of the mafia, and just the anger by all Americans.

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