Why Did Prohibition Fail? Essay, Research Paper

Prohibition came about on the 16th of January 1920and was abolished by 1934, just 14 years later. There were many reasons that this happened.

Prohibition is the banning of a certain substance from a certain area or country. In America the case was alcohol.

Just after the war many anti alcohol and saloon parties had enough evidence to accuse alcohol for the problems plaguing the American public. The Anti-Liquor campaign in America dates back since 1750 when leaders of that period made repeated efforts to discourage the excessive use of distilled spirits. Many religious and political leaders were beginning to see drunkenness as a national curse. Abraham Lincoln said of this period that intoxicating liquor was ‘used by everybody, repudiated by nobody’ and that it came forth in society ‘like the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay if not the first, the fairest born in every family’. The most powerful organization against the consumption of alcohol beverages is the so-called ‘Anti-Saloon League’ which was founded in Washington D.C. on December 18, 1895. One of its leaders once said, promoting his organization, ‘It has not come [...] simply to build a little local sentiment or to secure the passage of a few laws, or yet to vote the saloons from a few hundred towns. These are mere incidents in its progress. It has come to solve the liquor problem.’ The organization’s motto was ‘The saloon must go’ and they knew exactly how this was to be accomplished. The League struggled on without great successes. Americans continued to consume the liquor increasingly until the enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, which turned Prohibition into law. The Eighteenth Amendment was devised by Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League and was presented to Congress on January 16, 1920, by Andrew Volstead, congressman from Minnesota. At midnight of the same day all saloons were closed down throughout the United States, and national prohibition descended upon the earth, climaxing a long campaign to forbid the use of liquor within America’s boundaries. The eighteenth ales. He also had strong racial beliefs, such as, his hatred of Jews and his belief that the Germans were the master race. His individual skills were very important when trying to get his views across. Hitler was able to use his great skills of communication to convince his party members about his beliefs. Eventually, through time, his views were drilled into his fellow party men so much that they actually believed in his views as much as he did. This brainwashing technique was used on the whole nation during his campaigning. Hitler’s leadership skills were also as good as his communication skills. He used events, which occurred to his advantage. It was as if he knew what was going to happen, and that he had a plan for everything. One of these occurrences was the Munich Putsch. After the Putsch he blamed the Communists. This made his opponents popularity fall and his own, rise. After the Putsch he had to rely on his personality to get him through “the years of stagnation.” His party did not increase in popularity for 5 years, but Hitler never gave up. He got lucky when the depression came around, as he could use it to his advantage by saying he could get Germany out of it. Hitler was also a very cool character. He showed this when he refused to join a coalition unless they gave him the top job of chancellor. They eventually did. He had great political skill, as he was so sure that he would get the job eventually. Hitler had the enabling law passed to get rid of democracy in Germany and put all the powers he needed into his own hands. This was undoubtedly due to his individual personality. He wanted all power and total control over the government. Overall, Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership were vital to his rise in Germany. This was obviously a long-term cause to his rise as he was born with these qualities. He would rely on them all the way through his life. It is fair to say that if Hitler did not have these qualities, he would not of been noticed in Germany. All of these natural born skills were extremely important in Hitler’s rise.