Prohibition in the 1920's

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The Prohibition Era played a major role in the development of the United States as a whole. It changed the law system. The Eighteenth Amendment, which was prohibition, made innocent civilians seem like criminals all because they made, sold, or bought alcohol. This also increased the need of police service, and even then it was still hard to catch every single person who broke the law. There were many, though, who supported this amendment. For example, an organization known as the WCTU, or Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, believed in never having an alcoholic beverage even before Prohibition was enacted. There were others that believed in what the WCTU stood for, but did not like the organization (tn.gov). They believed women should not speak in public. Those who believed in prohibition were known as “drys” and those who opposed were called “wets” (Lapsansky-Werner page 229). The Eighteenth Amendment affected today’s culture and played a major, yet controversial role in American history.
There were many causes for the Prohibition Amendment to be enacted. Around this time, many people believed that alcohol should be illegal. Many countries also believed that the banning of alcohol was important to their development. “Historians have shown, however, that National Prohibition was no fluke, but rather the fruit of a century-long series of temperance movements springing from deep roots in the American reform tradition” (ncbi.gov). Countries such as Iceland, Finland, Norway, Czarist Russia, Soviet Russia, Canadian Proveniences, and Canada’s Federal Government all had a law similar to, or the same as the United States’ Prohibition Amendment. Also, New Zealand approved this law twice, but it never passed (ncbi.gov). In the United State...

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...hibition-Dictionary- and-Glossary.html>. "How Teachers Can Make the Most of Prohibition." EDSITEment. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
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"Introduction." Clash of Cultures. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
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Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. United States History: Modern America. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
"Moonshiners and Bootleggers." Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
Nov. 2013. .
"Temperance Movement in Tennessee." The Saloon and Anarchy. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
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"The Volstead Act." US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
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