Volstead Act Essay, Research Paper

The Volstead Act of 1919 was the law that made the sale of alcoholic beverages

illegal, supporters of this act thought that this would make the country better

as a whole. They said this law would lower crime rates and would increase the

health of Americans. This law did the exact opposite of what they expected,

overnight this law created a black market that lead to the rise of organized

crime. The health of people who drank alcoholic beverages also decreased because

there was no quality control in the illegal market. Thousands of Americans were

poisoned by the impurities of the illegal Alcohol. These are just some of the

reasons why I think that Prohibition was not the best law that we could have

come up with. The new laws on alcohol are much better because they do not

completely ban the sales of alcohol, they just limit who can buy it and when.

This is much better because the drinks are much safer, distilled properly and

the percentage of alcoholic contend is controlled. Another reason why this law

was not reasonable is because of the time period that it took place in, this was

in the middle of the great depression and there could have been many more jobs

if they did not ban the sales of alcohol. Prohibition was not a well thought out

amendment and next time the people want to ban the sales of something they

should consider what will happen after they do. A couple of good thing that

ended up coming out of this was they set an age limit on the purchasing and

drinking of alcohol, which probably is safer than if they just let people of all

ages do it. They have also came up with many good laws for drinking and driving

to make the roads safer, and they are starting to make the laws more strict than

they already are. Prohibition did the exact opposite of what the people who

supported it thought it would do and that is why it only lasted from 1920-1933.

This law manufactured bootleggers and many organized crime groups. Although it

was not a good law it was probably good in the long run because maybe next time

a group of people want to ban the sales of something they will think of the

consequences of what will happen if they do.