Essay on Prohibition

During the 1920's, America slowly began to change not only its appearance, but also how people lived. In the 1920's, the prohibition law had many consequences toward society ultimately resulting in organized crime and disrespect for the law. Underground bars and smuggling of alcohol became very popular and it seemed as if police enforcement had no control over it, the people ran over the laws until prohibition was finally repealed. The geography of America started to slowly change as technology became more advanced and technology such as electrical appliances and cars were designed. The advanced technology made life much easier for Americans and certain inventions such as the car made it possible for people to travel whether it was for work or for leisure time. As America began to change, the everyday woman we had come to know slowly started to change. Woman started to become more independent and not be the typical stay at home mother most people were used to. Along with that they began drinking, smoking and showing more skin. In the 1920's, America's technological advances led tot he geographical change of America, but also changed the lives of the millions Americans

living there.

Prohibition came into effect when it was said to be the main cause

For corruption, but little did they know all the consequences banning

Alcohol would have toward society. The eighteenth amendment became effective in January 1920 stating that the manufacturing, sale and transportation of Alcohol became illegal. Reformers had been the ones saying that alcohol was the main cause of corruption because they thought too much drinking led to crime, wife and child abuse, accidents on the job, and other serious social problems. Prohibition support came mainly from the rural south and west areas that were generally all native-born Protestants. The Anti-Saloon League led the drive to prohibit alcohol. They had also gained support from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union who believed drinking was a sin. In the

Beginning prohibition somewhat worked. Saloons began closing their doors and the number of drunken arrest declined. But soon after World War 1 ended and many Americans were tired of making sacrifices and they just wanted to relaxant have fun, which included drinking. Immigrant's also rebelled against prohibition as they felt drinking was a part of their social life. The prohibition law wasn't respected well as the government failed to properly fund this law. Without proper funding the law wasn't enforced well. The Volstead act had established a prohibition bureau in the treasury department which was supposed to patrol 18,700 miles of coastline, track down illegal stills and such, but they had failed to complete their job properly as they only had 1,500 poorly paid federal agents due to the poor funds. To be able to drink liquor, people went to underground saloons and nightclubs, commonly referred to as speakeasies. Speakeasies could be found anywhere from penthouses, to cellars, to office buildings. To get in the underground saloon you would have to present a password or a card. Inside you would find a mixture of middle class to upper middle class people. People began to find other ways around the law in order to obtain alcohol. Alcohol was available legally for medicinal and religious purposes, which led to the prescription of alcohol and sale of sacramental wine to skyrocket. People were also able to obtain liquor from smugglers, also known as bootleggers because they hid the liquor in the legs of their boots. Alcohol was smuggled from places like Canada, Cuba, and the West Indies. As disrespect for the law grew, so disorganized crime. Top smugglers such as Al Capone netted over $60 million year. To take control over Chicago's alcohol business, Capone would kill off his competition. During the 1920's, headlines had reported 522 bloody gang related killings. Al Capone became the top smuggler and was tried many times to be imprisoned for his illegal actions. The police had to real evidence of his crimes so they were not able to incarcerate him. They were finally able to arrest him for incorrect taxes, which to the police was better than nothing. Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933 by the 21st amendment. All this commotion that alcohol was the main source of corruption was a totally. They created a law that was not funded properly and could not been forced well. It was obvious that it wouldn't work well. Creating the prohibition law resulted in more crime and disrespect for the law. The moment police saw they didn't have control over this law they should have automatically repealed the law, which would have prevented everything prohibition caused. Police and officials knew that no matter how much they tried enforcing prohibition people were still not abiding the law and finding ways to drink. Knowing they had poor funding and couldn't enforce incorrectly they shouldn't have created prohibition unless they knew it would significantly better society. Prohibition was ultimately a law that was disrespected and in contrary to what it was supposed to do caused many organized crimes. Prohibition was created to help stop crime but ended up causing worse and more crime since it was a very faulty law that was not properly enforced due to poor funding. As laws changed so did the appearance and technology of America.

Advancing in technology led America's appearance to change, but it

Also changed the lives of many Americans. As the automobile was created, tiled to a geographical change for America and a positive step for Americans. The automobile completely changed the landscape of America starting with the most visible effect of paved roads. These paved roads were suitable for all weather. Route 66 is a legendary route that provided a way for people moving west from Chicago to California. Many people on their way would just settle in towns along the route. With the new automobile and landscaping changing, so did architectural design. Houses were now built with a garage or carport and driveway and a smaller lawn as a result. The automobile also created jobs as rapid construction of gasoline stations; repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps, and shopping centers began flourishing. Along with paved roads for cars, traffic lights also began to pop up beginning in Detroit in the early 1920's. Tunnels were also built to connect places such as New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey. The automobile also now gave isolated rural families the opportunities to travel to the city for shopping and entertainment. Families could also now travel to further places for vacation. Increased

...