Prohibition Was Introduced In 1919 And Was Due To Many Different Reasons Essay, Research Paper

?? Prohibition was introduced in 1919 and was

due to many different reasons. It was not a new idea as the movement had

already begun in 1830 when women opposed men drinking. Although the law against

the sale and transportation of alcohol in America was passed by congress in

1917 due to the eighteenth amendment, it didn?t come into effect until midnight

of January 16, 1920. Shortly after the amendment had been passed, the National

Prohibition Act, or the Volstead Act, as it was called because of its author,

Andrew J. Volstead, was put into effect. It laid down guidelines for the

enforcement of the prohibition laws and clarified that anything that contained

over 0.5% alcohol was now intoxicating liquor and illegal. Exceptions were made

for alcohol used for medicinal and industrial uses. ?? Before this in 1914 half of America?s 48

states were already dry. It was voted in 1917 by congress that the level of

alcohol on beer should be cut, and that it could no longer be sold near to army

bases. ?? America banning alcohol was largely due to

their intolerance as a country. American society on the whole has always shown

intolerance towards many things such as blacks, immigrants and communists.

Their intolerance to immigrants can be seen as early as 1882 when an act was

passed limiting the number of Chinese immigrants allowed into the USA. Further

immigration acts were passed and this had a lot to do with their paranoia about

communism infiltrating into their country. ?? America was also isolationist and would have

liked to have avoided entering World War 2. There were so many different

nationalities in their country that it was difficult to decide whose side they

were on. Senate refused to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and

would not risk being dragged into another European war so refused to join the

League of Nations. ?Some of the first

states to become dry in the USA were the southern states. Most of them were

actually dry by 1914. These states were often very racist and banning alcohol

was another form of them taking freedoms away from black people. They said,

??it was a way of keeping the Negro in his place.? ?? The reasons for prohibition can be put

under many headings. There were, for example, religious reasons why prohibition

was introduced. The population of America included many Protestants who had

come over from England over 100 years ago and they disapproved of alcohol very

strongly. It was seen as a temptation that led to evil and it was a Christian?s

duty to take away this temptation. Many men got so drunk that they could not

turn up for mass on a Sunday, which set a bad example for their children. This

is linked to the family, which was also affected by alcohol. It was mainly men

who drunk at this time in the USA and they would often drink away all the money

the family had leaving nothing for food and children deprived. Alcohol

sometimes caused men to become violent towards members of their families. A

group called The Women?s Christian Temperance Union was formed to campaign for

prohibition. ?? Another reason many people supported

prohibition was that it led to many health problems. Doctors believed it to be

a poison that inflicted diseases and untimely death. It was also said that

babies were being born handicapped and many even lost during pregnancy due to

mothers drinking. ?? The drive was given momentum in World War I

as many young men were away fighting against Germany. Apart from the fact that

alcohol was believed to make them ill, it was argued that soldiers were getting

drunk and were not able to fire straight. Prohibition was therefore said to be

patriotic and would help the war effort and defeat Germany. A German company

called Pabst and Burch brewed a lot of the beer that was drunk in America. Much

of the barley used in brewing could be used to produce rations for the allies

so for these reasons drinking alcohol was said to be unpatriotic. The food and

fuel control act banned the use of grain for brewing alcohol. Some people

considered alcohol to lead to absenteeism and also reduced the production in

factories. Industry therefore supported prohibition as they thought it would

make them more money. ?? Prohibition soon became a national

political issue. People were encourage to vote for ?dry? candidates in

elections by groups such as- ?The Anti-Saloon League?- and- ?The Women?s

Christian Temperance Union?. Politicians soon caught on that by supporting

prohibition they gained votes and the National Prohibition Party was set up. ?? For all these reasons Prohibition came

about in 1919. It pleased some of the people highlighted above but it also

angered many ordinary people who felt they were doing nothing wrong by having a

drink. ? ??? ?? ?? Society changed dramatically in the USA in

the 1920?s. Although drinking, selling and transporting alcohol was supposed to

reduce crime, poverty, death rates, and improve the economy and the quality of

life the ?noble experiment? only caused to do the opposite. ?? Speakeasies were introduced which were bars

where people could drink alcohol. Patrons had to speak very quietly or ?easy?

to get in so that they wouldn?t be arrested hence the name. These places

prospered as drinking alcohol became more fashionable and by 1928 there were at

least 30,000 in New York. ?? There were appointments of officials when

prohibition was introduced as an attempt to see that laws were enforced. The

first prohibition commissioner was John Kramer who was given $2.2 million by

congress to help him make sure the laws were obeyed. However with only 1,550

federal agents and over 18,700 miles huge and virtually uncontrollable

coastline it was very hard for them to prevent immense quantities of liquor

from entering America. The agents also had very little knowledge of technical

systems and were paid poorly. As some alcohol was still being produced legally

people often managed to pull the wool over agent?s eyes by pretending they were

brewing alcohol for these purposes. They readily accepted bribes to compensate

their low pay. ?? Barely five percent of smuggled alcohol was

prevented from entering the USA in the 1920s. The bootlegging business as it

was known fell under the control of organised gangs, which managed to

overpowered many of the authorities. A lot of money stood to be made from

smuggling liquor and they took advantage of this. One such gangster, probably

the most notorious of them all, was Al Capone. He gained control of organised

crime in Chicago and made between $60 million and $100 million a year from

smuggling alcohol at the height of his success. He was extremely ruthless and

this was shown in one of the most horrific and famous gangster shoot-outs ever

which occurred on Valentine?s Day, 1929. Due to business differences, Capone

had his right hand man, ?Machine Gun? Jack McGurn plot the murder of the

O?Banions, led by Bugs Moran. They had fallen out over the struggle to control

the bootlegging business in Chicago and Capone was seeking revenge for the

death of one of his gang. McGurn pretended to be delivering some alcohol to

Moran at his warehouse and members of the Capone gang were impersonating police

officers who had come raid the transaction. Everyone inside was killed but

Capone had a solid alibi, being in Miami at the time, and no one was ever

convicted for the murders. This is just one example of the ?gang wars? that

terrorised many major cities and how Prohibition led to increased crime in many

of America?s big cities. Apart from bootlegging the gangs were involved in

prostitution and protection rackets. Protection rackets were basically

blackmail where they would ask for money in return for not smashing up the

shops and businesses of the people they approached. As what the gangs were

doing was illegal the only way to settle disputes was through crime. They

wouldn?t think twice about killing a rival. People often felt like they were

dependent on gangsters to supply the alcohol they craved. Over four hundred

gang related murders a year in Chicago alone were recorded. ?? During the 1920?s crime figures rocketed.

Previously law-abiding citizens became criminals for having an alcoholic drink,

which many people continued to do. Therefore far from reducing the crime rate

in the USA prohibition increased it. Resources being used to enforce other laws

were deflected to enforcing prohibition so these suffered too. Black market

violence was also increased and it destroyed many law-abiding jobs. The police

produced crime figures for drink related offences and whereas only 14,313

people were charged for being drunk in 1920 in Philadelphia, in 1025 51,361

people were charged with the same offence. It encouraged crime because people

refused to stop drinking alcohol and could easily find somewhere to do so.

Crimes involving gangsters were also often violent due to new inventions such

as the machine gun and car. ?? Not only this but attitudes to the law

changed. Many people caught drinking would not be convicted by the jury, in

fact only 20 people out of 6904 cases of breaking the prohibition law in New

York between 1921-1925 were ever convicted. Judges were sympathetic towards people,

as they themselves were probably guilty of having a drink or knowing someone

who did. The foreman of the Grand Jurors said, ??they will not convict men for

crimes they themselves are committing.? The prohibition agents became powerless

to enforce a law many people were prepared to break. ?? The smuggling of alcohol in the 1920?s was

very hard to control in the US Their borders are with Canada and Mexico,

neither of which were dry at this time. People would hide alcohol in hollowed

out canes, water bottles, and canisters under jackets, tied around shins and

tied around waists. This was bound to happen when prohibition was introduced,

as the demand for alcohol was so great. ?? Another change

in US society was that a rural urban split appeared. More criminals could be

found in the city and a lot of violent crime occurred as I have already shown.

However illegal alcohol was still brewed in remote, rural areas. They brewed

something called ?moonshine?, which was extremely powerful. It was said to make

you go blind or even possibly kill you. As these areas were so remote it was

often hard for the agents to find the brewing stills. ??? As shown society was greatly affected by

Prohibition and in numerous ways. Many of these things were negative but not

everything that came about in this decade was bad. Apart from Prohibition

America?s economy started to boom like never before which brought it?s own

changes to society. ? ?? The 1920?s are often known as the Roaring

Twenties and they were a time of great prosperity and growth for many

Americans. The reasons for the amount of success people had during this time

was largely due to the way America?s economy boomed. ?? After World War 1 their economy was very

strong due to the amount of money they had made from selling ammunition,

weapons and tanks to their allies, and how well the factories were consequently

doing. There was a great demand for products from the factories, they therefore

employed more people, produced more and made more money. Europe was in a terrible

state from the fighting that had taken place, whereas the USA was left largely

unaffected. American businessmen seized the opportunity to invest in wrecked

western European factories so that when they started to do well the American

economy gained profit which started it to boom. In 1900 the United States

produced 24% of the worlds manufactured goods, in 1928 this had risen to 39% so

that they were the leading force in the world?s economy. ?? The government at this time also

contributed to the amount of money American citizens were making. They were

Republican and tax was low. They also helped out American businesses by putting

a tax onto goods being brought in from abroad. Foreign goods were therefore

more expensive than the American equivalent and trade was protected, hence the

name given to this policy, ?Protectionism?. The president of the USA from 1923

to 1929, Calvin Coolidge, believed in leaving businessmen to get on with making

money and famously said, ?The business of America is business.? ?? The

1920?s were also a period of great risk. People wanted to make lots of money

and banks were willing to give a lot of people loans, as they were confident in

the US economy. People often used these loans to buy shares on the Wall Street

Stock Exchange. As people bought more shares more money was invested into

businesses and industry. New machinery such as power shovels, dump trucks and

concrete mixers modernised the construction industry; dial phones and automatic

switchboards improved the communications industry; more consumer goods were

bought than ever before. Production was speeded up and everything became much

more efficient. ?? One reason that so many new consumer

products were being sold was that advertising started to take off in a big way.

Companies wanted to sell their products on a wider scale than ever before and

to make this possible they had to make sure people knew about the product that

they were selling. Big firms such as Coca-Cola realised that by investing in

advertising they stood to gain big profits. By 1920 $129.5 million was spent on

advertising in magazines in America, compared with$58.5 million in 1918. This

had risen again to $200 million by 1929. It shows that companies soon started

to realise that the more they spent on advertising the more they could make in

profit. Advertising was also helped by the introduction of the radio. By 1930

40% of households in America had a radio which allowed them to be reached over

a variety of mediums: radios, magazines, posters and newspapers for example. It

was taken so seriously that psychologists were employed to investigate how

people could be persuaded to buy more of a product. One such person was JB

Watson, a former Professor of Psychology who became an advertising boss. He

believed that as long as advertisements were carefully thought out they could

easily manipulate people. They were made to appeal to different people and for

various reasons. By highlighting the imminent danger of getting wrinkles, spots

and dandruff people became worried and bought those products that were said to

prevent these things. It was a form of brainwashing which people were highly

susceptible to due to the amount of advertising they came into contact with.

People believed that they absolutely had to have the latest model, the newest

invention. As one advertising boss pointed out, ?nine tenths of the goods

bought annually are bought by women.? women were the main target for

advertising firms. They were believed to be ??creatures of imagination.? who

could easily be influenced by advertising. Perfume advertisements for example

often showed glamorous, attractive looking women wearing expensive clothes and

this appealed greatly to women; by buying the product they felt that they were

also buying the image that was portrayed to them. Advertising also appealed to

men, but a lot of it was mainly for women. Consequently sales of products such

as hand sized cameras, vacuum cleaners, wristwatches and cigarette lighters

went up, all adding to the booming economy. ?? One extremely influential man in the 1920?s

was Henry Ford. He revolutionised the construction industry through what was

probably the most important industry in the economic boom, the automobile

industry. He introduced one thing in particular which was very important, mass

production and the production line or ?Magic Belt?. Division of labour was

introduced also so that workers in the Ford factory didn?t waste time going

around to find tools or equipment. Each person on the assembly line had a

specific job to do and they subsequently became very specialised in their own

job. In 1913 it had taken workers about 14 hours to assemble a Ford Model T (or

?tin lizzie? as it was sometimes known), with the introduction of the magic

belt it was cut to 93 minutes and by 1925 a completed car was produced from the

Ford factory every 10 seconds. As they were creating cars so fast the price it

cost to buy one dropped from $950 to $550 meaning a lot more people could

afford them. Ford is also famous for creating cars in ?any colour as long as

it?s black? which added to the cheap price they were sold at. Even if people

could not afford to pay $550 in one go a hire purchase agreement was set up

where people could pay a deposit then so much each month until they had paid

the whole thing off. Although this meant they ended up paying slightly more for

the car it presented a whole new set of people with the opportunity to buy

things they would never have otherwise been able to. This caused the economy to

boom and it didn?t only apply to the car either. Products such as vacuum

cleaners, washing machines and radios could be bought on hire purchase and no

matter where you lived in the country they would be delivered to you through

mail order. These things were all brought about due to Ford and advertising

enhanced the demand. ?? The automobile industry employed almost

500,000 people and helped to reduce unemployment from 11.9% to 3.2% in the

space of 8 years. The industry was booming and as more people were able to buy

cars the economy also boomed. It encouraged other industries to grow also.? During the 1920?s 90% of the county?s

petroleum products, 80% of the rubber products, 75%of the plate glass 29% of

the steel, and 24% of the machine tools were used up by the car industry each

year. A petrol industry was born and this helped to create even more jobs.

Roadside diners were opened up and around $1 billion a year was spent on the

building of highways. This contributed to the introduction of suburbs at the

cost of smaller towns and villages. By 1929 there were 26 million cars on the

roads in the USA compared with 9 million 9 years previously. ?? I have so far concentrated on the economic

and political impacts of the boom but it affected people in a social way also.

The Roaring Twenties seemed to be a time of fun, new found freedoms and

prosperity for a lot of people in America. Industrial worker?s wages rose by

26% during the 1920?s and throughout the whole country, on average, wages rose

from $1,308 per year to $1,716 per year. ?? The war had just finished and people wanted

to have a good time. People had more money and with more money came increased

confidence. Women had already proved during the war that they could work in

factories just as well as any man and they had tasted freedom by earning their

own money instead of just being kept by their husbands. The vote for women was

introduced in 1920 and some women called ?flappers? took advantage of these

freedoms by doing things that were practically unheard of before then; smoking

cigarettes in public, wearing trousers, driving sports cars, and speaking their

minds openly for example. ?? Black people also enjoyed a bit more

freedom, mainly due to the introduction of jazz music. This type of music

excited young people who had never known anything but ballroom dancing; it was

energetic, exciting and without much restraint. A new dance, the Charlseton,

was established which was like nothing anybody had ever seen before. Silent

movies provided another type of new entertainment for people to spend their money

on. Film stars such as Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton became extremely

famous. Hollywood grew into the centre of the film industry and cinemas

appeared everywhere. The first talking movie was ?The Jazz Singer? in 1927

which was something most people would never have dreamed about 10 years

earlier. People also started to watch sports such as basketball, baseball and

American football. People had heroes that they could look up to, film stars,

sports stars and one of the most famous heroes Charles A. Lindbergh who was the

first man to fly across the Atlantic by himself. ?? All these changes in US society came about

due to the economic boom. It presented a new lifestyle to millions of people in

many different ways. Not everyone enjoyed the successes the boom brought

however. Farmers lost out due to crop prices falling and unskilled workers

could not afford to buy still relatively expensive items such as cars, washing

machines and fridges. Half of all American families were earning less than

$1500 a year in 1929. However lifestyles and industry were certainly changed by

the effects the boom had.?? ?? ?? By 1928 optimism

in America was very high. The new president Herbert Hoover is quoted as saying

? We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever

before in the history of any land?. During the 1920?s profits in America had

increased on average 62% a year. Automobile sales were nearing the 4.5 million

sold in 1929 and people had more spending money and leisure time than they had

ever been used to. The Wall Street Crash in October 1929 brought about a sudden

and unexpected end to the boom of the 1920?s. However by looking back at events

from that time we can attempt to explain why and how it was allowed to happen.

Some of the causes are short term and some are long-term, and some may be said

to be more important than others are. ?? Many of the long-term causes can be seen

throughout the 1920?s. To start with speculation on the stock exchange had

become a very common middle-class pastime. People who didn?t really understand

very much about how stocks and shares worked took out loans from banks and

risked high amounts of money. The banks were confident in the US economy and

loaned money to practically anybody, from a working-class shoeshine boy to a

middle-class lawyer. People placed a lot of confidence in the loans but this

confidence was merely a notion. People were paying large amounts of money for

pieces of paper that they had no real control over. If they invested in the

stock market then failed to make a profit or even lost money the banks were

left without a way to recall the loans. People who could not really afford to

pay the high prices for shares were often attracted by the appeal of making

easy money and did something called ?buying on the margin?. This meant

borrowing money from banks then selling on the shares at a profit before the

repayments were due. Everything depended on how well the companies that were

being invested in were doing. To start with many of them did well and share

prices rose, but they could fall just as easily. This meant that as soon as the

company started to do badly people who owned those shares lost money. With the

amount of people who invested in them this turned out to have disastrous consequences.

?? Another reason why the boom came to an end

at this time was overproduction. This was probably one of the main reasons why

things went so terribly wrong so quickly, and if it had been noticed earlier

things may have been different. Due to so many people buying shares in

particular companies, Ford is a good example of this, the company believed they

were doing well and appeared to be strong. They had more money and therefore

were able to produce a lot more a lot quicker. They took advantage of this fact

and with the help of modern technology and mass production they were able to

produce their product at an astonishing rate. Although production increased 43%

during the 1920?s worker?s wages rose only 11% meaning too much of the profits

gained from stock market speculation went on producing goods. People started to

buy less of products such as cars and vacuum cleaners; once they had one there

was no need for another. The amount of goods excelled the necessity for the

product and the companies were forced to lower prices and this lowered the

confidence people had in the companies shares. Fewer shares were sold and the

company?s profits started to drop. When lowering prices didn?t cause sales to

go up the companies were forced to sack workers. As more people lost their jobs

less money could be spent on leisure activities and confidence dropped as a

whole throughout the nation. ?? Overproduction was also due to the tax put

on foreign goods by other countries. It was a reaction to ?protectionism? that meant

less goods could be sold abroad. Overproduction also led to prices for

agricultural goods dropping. Farmers were also producing too much and food

prices dropped. Less money was going into the American economy and faith in

shares, money and the overall concept of the economy deteriorated. ?? Another cause that may not be quite as

important as overproduction but still contributed to the collapse of the

economy was the falling property prices in Florida. The housing market there

suddenly collapsed in 1926 and due to the upsurge of land prices in previous

years people were left with terribly overpriced properties. This was an early

indication of things to come and if it had been spotted earlier the crash and

consequent depression may have been avoided. ?? The triggers that led to the collapse of

the economy are also fundamental to understanding why it happened. One of these

was that people rushed to take out their savings from banks that were too small

to cope with the type of demand this resulted in. Banks also speculated on the

stock exchange and people who did not own shares as well as those who did were

scared that their savings would be lost. It caused people to panic even more

when these banks simply closed their doors on people in autumn 1929, unable to

pay out the amount of money people were asking for. More confidence was lost in

the economy and people soon started realise something was very wrong. ?? Another of the triggers was when a few of

the big businessmen who invested in shares started to sell large blocks of

them. They, unlike many of the people who bought shares at this time,

understood the stock market and realised that the prices could not keep on

rising. In September 1929 prices started to fall and by the 24th

October people had started to panic. Those businessmen had sent out the message

that the economy was unstable and it heralded a wave of alarmed speculators to

sell their shares also. This day was known as ?Black Thursday? and more than 12

million shares were sold in one day. Only 5 days later on the 29th

?Black Tuesday? even more shares were sold and the Wall Street Stock Market was

said to have crashed. People lost everything they had and were completely

ruined overnight. Union Cigar share prices fell from $113 each to just $4 each. ?? The

Wall Street Crash ruined many people?s lives. The President of Union Cigar

jumped out of a hotel window unable to endure the effects the crash would have

on him. Elderly people who were too old to start their lives over again also

committed suicide along with many others. The majority of the world was plunged

into a Great Depression and did not recover until the beginning of World War 2.

People went hungry, houses were lost, children were famished. The exciting,

prosperous times of the 1920?s seemed a remote memory to the thousands of men,

women and children forced to live in poverty. As I have demonstrated there were

many causes that led to the collapse of the economy. They are not all as

important as each other, I would say overproduction and recklessness over

buying shares were most to blame, but if the signs had been noticed earlier

things may have been different for the many people that were ruined by it?s

effects.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

???????????????????????????????????Sophie Beattie