Organized Crime as the Main Factor that Led to Failure of Prohibition

1918 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Organized crime and prohibition essay

Organized Crime as the Main Factor that Led to Failure of Prohibition In January 1919 the 18th Amendment outlawed the manufacture, transportation and sale of liquor, backed up by the Volstead Act which classify liquor as any drink which contained 0.5% alcohol or more. Different groups backed this new law but it was also opposed by many. Prohibition, never succeeded. There were various reasons why the enforcing of Prohibition failed. Both presidential candidates in 1932 were 'wet' so on 5th December 1933 Prohibition was finally abolished by the 21st Amendment - 14 years after it had been introduced. But was organised crime and the gangsters the only reason why Prohibition failed? I will give a talk about how organised crime contributed to the failure of prohibition. The 18th Amendment had banned the sale, transportation and manufacture of alcohol in America. But it was clear to some, that millions neither wanted this law nor would respect it,“ rich and immigrant working class, regarded Prohibition as an intolerable infringement of personal liberty and simply defied it.” There was obviously a huge market for what in the 1920's was an illegal commodity. It was the gangsters who dominated various cities who provided this commodity. “With no legitimate source of liquor left, clubs, speakeasies and private dealers were compelled to turn to the underworld bosses, became a ready prey.” T The groups that favoured Prohibition were not a reason for Prohibition failing, but the problem was that over 75% of America was urban and there were also comparatively few rich businessmen. Prohibition never had any real support from urban states, ... ... middle of paper ... ...peakeasy owners and many members of the police force, government and the courts - hindering the law enforcement greatly. The problem was the great power that the gangsters had. Overall, I think that the gangsters were the main reason why Prohibition failed, followed closely by the lack of public support. My reasoning behind this opinion is that the demand by the public for alcohol could not have been met without the powerful gangsters and once they had started to meet this demand they could not be stopped as the gangsters controlled and influenced many people who should have had influence over the gangsters and stopped them providing alcohol to. Bibliography THE ERA OF EXCESS PROHIBITION BY ANDREW SINCLAIR. AMERICA BY TINDALL AND SHI. THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY AMERICAN HISTORY WRITEN BY MALDYWN JONES.

Show More
Related

  • Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York: Scribner, 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • The Hopes and Realities of Prohibition

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the biggest controversies of the twentieth century is the eighteenth amendment. Mississippi was the first state to pass the bill of prohibition. From there on out the entire country followed in Mississippi’s lead in the crusade of prohibition. The eighteenth amendment was a law, which tried to reform and protect the American people against alcohol, as some called, “the devil’s advocate”. The outcome of prohibition was more negative than positive and reeked more havoc than good on the American society.

    Read More

  • Assess The View That The Policy Of National Prohibition Case Study

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    The decline of alcohol consumption was partly an illusion due to the fact that it sharply increased by the penultimate years of Prohibition, suggested that the demand of alcohol was so strong, which led to the rise of organised crime, such as bootlegging, speakeasies and criminal gangs. Ultimately, Prohibition was not a healthy move because many people decided to turn to more dangerous substitutes such as heroin, hashish and cannabis. This had serious health consequences, such as addiction and shortened life expectancy. Due to the immense geographical size of America, prohibition was difficult to enforce, which also led to corruption. The limited number of underpaid police officers were usually bribed by illegal establishments to remain silent. Willoughby’s point is agreeable that the failure of prohibition was largely due to the fact that it was over-ambitious, resulting in many problems in America, that led to its repeal in

    Read More

  • The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    On Jan. 17, 1920, America went completely dry. The 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution had been ratified a year earlier, banning “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” within the United States and its territories. This began the era of Prohibition, a 14-year time period of law-breaking unlike any other in our country’s history fueled by bootleggers, gangs, speak easies and mafias. The 18th Amendment was a rarity in that it limited the rights of the individual rather than the activities of the government, thereby guaranteeing an unfavorable reception and reaction. “Last Call” The Rise and Fall of Prohibition was written by Daniel Okrent and published in May 2010 and is a historical explanation of the Prohibition era. Prohibition through the 18th Amendment holds the distinction of being the only constitutional amendment ever to be repealed. This fact leads one to ask: How did this even occur? Why would Americans sacrifice their precious right to drink?

    Read More

  • Prohibition Synthesis Essay

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although both the coming and the arrival of the Great Depression did have some influence over the decision to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, other factors played a part – most importantly the simple fact that prohibition didn’t work. In the early 1920s and throughout the 1930s America suffered through a period of economic decline, and because of this, the government in particular, was in need of funds to fuel its weakening economy. Taxation on alcohol would contribute towards the resources for relief, and prevent higher taxes in other areas of business which would only compound the situation. Each year the government was missing out on a sum of around $500 million which would be brought in by a tax on alcohol, and would significantly help America during the crisis. As well as this, an end to prohibition would eliminate the costs required to enforce it – an extra expenditure the government could not afford at this time. Economically, an end to prohibition would help strengthen the unstable situation in America: ending unproductive government spending as well as bringing new money into the system. Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment would also meet social demands brought about by the crisis. Those facing hard times wanted to drink, and wanted an end to the law to allow them to do so more easily; thus the Great Depression added to the support for social groups already campaigning for its repeal. Both the economic and social effects of the Depression make it an important reason for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, a concept supported by historian Joseph Gusfeld. However, this aspect, rather than directly causing the repeal of national prohibition, was the accelerating factor which catalysed the passing of the Twenty-first Ame...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Prohibition

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Prohibition or the Eighteenth Amendment was a huge failure for a law in 1920. There were many factors that led to its downfall that included illegal means, rise of gangsters, and the Twenty- First Amendment. Despite the Prohibition, it did not stop the people from drinking it and accessing it through thousands of speakeasies. It became a most lucrative business for criminals that led to dangerous competition. In 1933, the failed amendment was repealed and most people rejoiced that alcohol was legal again. The Eighteenth Amendment was an experiment that went horribly wrong and did absolutely nothing to bring any positive change. This was proof “that you don’t have to be drunk to come up with a really, really, bad idea.” (Carlson. 141)

    Read More

  • Prohibition Dbq

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    In short the gangsters thrived all because they'd enough cash to be accountable of huge cash creating businesses just like the 'speakeasies' and 'bootlegging' and that they also had enough cash to bribe the under-paid, over-worked police officers. Corruption additionally played a large part; the police, the judiciary and even the President were well-known violators of the Prohibition Law, providing no role models for the common American citizen to look up too towards. Soft drinks, particularly Coca Cola, had been steady growing in quality since the first 1900's.

    Read More

  • Prohibition - 'The Noble Experiment'

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prohibition was designed to rid the country of businesses that manufactured, sold, and or distributed alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment made it a violation of the constitution to do and of the before mentioned. This was a crime punishable up to the Supreme Court. The original idea was that Americans as a whole were unhealthy, there was too much crime and corruption, and that people were being burdened by excess taxes that poorhouses and prisons were creating. What happened? The cheap alcohol being illegally produced killed more Americans, crime and corruption went up, taxes were raised to fund the law enforcement needed to enforce prohibition, and the prisons became overcrowded.

    Read More

  • The Success and Failure of the Prohibition

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Prohibition had good intent, but it ultimately failed. Criminal activity rose rapidly and the economy fell harshly. America originally supported the Prohibition, but it eventually turned against it. The Prohibition lasted nearly fifteen years, but its legacy lives on. Nowadays the modern problem that closely mirrors the Prohibition is the war on drugs. Their illegal manufacture and sale is similar the manufacture and sale of alcohol during the Prohibition. History repeats itself.

    Read More

  • Prohibition in the Great Gatsby

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prohibition was passed to eradicate the demand for liquor but had the inadvertent effect of raising the crime rates in America. Robert Scott stated, “Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America” (Scott 2). As the demand for alcohol increased, people began to find new methods to mask the production and consumption of liquor. It became easier to break the rules. Organized crime blossomed and many law-abiding citizens turned into criminals.

    Read More

  • Prohibition

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prohibition was a period in which the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. It started January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 193. Although it was formed to stop drinking completely, it did not even come close. It created a large number of bootleggers who were able to supply the public with illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol and using other methods. They started the practices of organized crime that are still used today. Thus, Prohibition led to the rapid growth of organized crime.

    Read More

  • Nativism During The Harlem Renaissance

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    People turned more and more towards criminal activity, organized criminals such as the American mobsters and European crime syndicates thrived, most common people looked upon these organizations as heros. Criminals like Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger were headliners of the era. Jobs were scarce and people needed to provide for their families, gangsterism was dangerous but provided an easy way to make money. When the American government passed the eighteenth Amendments outlawing alcohol, people who enjoyed a drink became criminal for doing so. It was organized criminals who supplied the booze. In January of 1920 the American government banned the sale and supply of alcohol, the government thought that this would curb crime and violence, prohibition did not achieve its goals, leading more toward higher crime rates and excessive violence. Alcohol was seen as the devil's advocate and banning the substance would help improve the quality of American lives. It caused an explosive growth in crime with more than double the amount of illegal bars and saloons operating than before prohibition. The government set up the “Federal Prohibition Bureau” to police prohibition, this did not deter people and organized crime continued to be the main supplier of booze. With a large coastline it was almost impossible to police with only five percent of alcohol ever being confiscated. Bribing government officials was common, and people were increasingly crafty in the way they

    Read More

  • Economic and Social Effects of Prohibition

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    Instead, it caused various social problems such as: the explosive growth of organized crime, increased liquor consumption, massive murder rates and corruption among city officials. Prohibition also hurt the economy because the government wasn’t collecting taxes on the multi-billion dollar a year industry. One of the main reasons that prohibition failed, was because it was difficult to control. the mass flow of illegal liquor from various countries, mainly Canada. “Bootleggers smuggled liquor from overseas and Canada, stole it from government warehouses, and produced their own.”

    Read More

  • Prohibition Argumentative Essay

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prohibition made plethora of people furious at the government for passing the Eighteenth Amendment. Not only people were mad but also beer companies were mad. In this time of Prohibition citizens did not want to follow the governments laws. They wanted to drink alcohol. The citizens rebelled and they started buying it illegally. However, The Eighteenth Amendment did not directly state it was illegal to consume or have private possession Alcohol .

    Read More

  • The Start of Gangsterism/ Organized Crime because of Prohibition

    1999 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prohibition in the United States lasted about 14 years from 1920 to 1933. “Prohibition was the period in United States history in which the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors was outlawed.” . Intoxicating liquors were beginning to ruin the lives of some Americans and it became banned. “Prohibition, members of the Temperance movement urged, would stop husbands from spending all the family income on alcohol and prevent accidents in the workplace caused by workers who drank during lunch” . Alcohol was beginning to tear families apart and some wanted to finally outlaw all of the alcohol which would make life easier. In the beginning organizations pushed moderation, but after some decades the organizations’ focus’ turned into the idea of complete prohibition . Although the idea of total prohibition was far-fetched it eventually began. The 18th amendment brought about complete prohibition to all of the United States, with this amendment prohibition in the United States was finally established.

    Read More

More about Organized Crime as the Main Factor that Led to Failure of Prohibition

Open Document