- Prohibition created a vast illegal market for the production, trafficking and sale of alcohol. In turn, the economy took a major hit, thanks to lost tax revenue and legal jobs.
- Prohibition nearly ruined the country's brewing industry
- Prohibition also produced some interesting statistics concerning the health of AmericansDeaths caused by cirrhosis of the liver in men dropped to 10.7 men per 100,000 from 29.5 men per 100,000 from 1911 to 1929 [source: Digital History].
· Alcohol consumption during Prohibition declined between 30 and 50 percent [source: Digital History].
· Conversely, by the end of the 1920s there were more alcoholics and illegal drinking establishments than before Prohibition [source: Encyclomedia.com].
- people who had vocally supported Prohibition had changed their tune dramatically. Their opinions about the evils of alcohol remained, but they had realized the effects of Prohibition to be far-reaching and perhaps worse than alcohol itself.
- According to famous tycoon John D. Rockefeller, "Drinking has generally increased, the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has been recruited and financed on a colossal scale" [source: Digital History].
- Gangs of illegal alcohol traffickers, comparable to today's illegal drug rings, became common
- Political corruption reached new levels, as those who were profiting from illegal trafficking lined the pockets of crooked politicians
- Illegal speakeasies flourished. Prior to Prohibition, there were fewer than 15,000 legal bars in the United States. By 1927, however, more than 30,000 speakeasies were serving illegally across the country. Approximately 100,000 people brewed alcohol illegally from home [source: Digital History].
Mintz, S. (2007). Change this text to the title of the section. Digital History. Retrieved (insert the date your retrieved the information here without parentheses) from
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu (add the complete URL for the specific page)
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu (add the complete URL for the specific page)
9. At midnight, January 16, 1920, the United States went dry; breweries, distilleries, and saloons were forced to close their doors.
10. Advocates of Prohibition argued that outlawing drinking would eliminate corruption, end machine politics, and help Americanize immigrants.
11. The death rate from alcoholism was cut by 80 percent by 1921 from pre-war levels, while alcohol-related crime dropped markedly. Nevertheless, seven years after Prohibition went into effect, the total deaths from adulterated liquor reached approximately 50,000, and there were many more cases of blindness and paralysis
12. produced bootleggers, speakeasies, moonshine, bathtub gin, and rum runners smuggling supplies of alcohol across state lines.
13. In 1927, there were an estimated 30,000 illegal speakeasies--twice the number of legal bars before Prohibition. Many people made beer and wine at home.
14. fostered corruption and contempt for law and law enforcement (Al Capone's Chicago organization reportedly took in $60 million in 1927 and had half the city's police on its payroll.)
15. Homicides increased in many cities, partly as a result of gang wars, but also because of an increase in drunkenness
16. The major effect of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act on drinking was to dramatically reduce beer drinking (and therefore total alcohol consumption). At the same time, however, prohibition increased consumption of hard liquor (especially among the middle class
17. National prohibition of alcohol (1920-33)--the "noble experiment"--was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America.
18. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending.
19. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition.
20. underground economy swiftly moved from the production of beer to the production of the more potent form of alcohol, spirits.
21. Prohibition made it more difficult to supply weaker, bulkier products, such as beer, than stronger, compact products, such as whiskey
22. The "Jazz Age” quickly signified a loosening up of morals, the exact opposite of what its Prohibition advocates had intended
23. old social barriers were broken, as the rich and powerful began to rub shoulders with ordinary folks. From housewives, to large business owners, blue collar workers, corrupted police chiefs and mayors, these many patrons befriended each other in their quest of the same goals – drinking and avoiding the law
24. it began to be fashionable to flout the Prohibition laws and the hip flask became a symbol of rebellion, seen everywhere
25. Narcotics, hashish, and marijuana were soon used in abundance
26. When I sell liquor,it's bootlegging.When my patrons serve iton a silver trayon Lakeshore Drive,it's hospitality. -- Al Capone
27. However, crime increased because “neither federal nor local authorities would commit the resources necessary to enforce the Volstead Act,” according to the National Archives.
28. Enforcement of 1920s' Prohibition was a formidable task. Bootleggers and rum runners (smugglers crossing a state border) were plentiful
29. Chicago’s Al Capone and his organization were considered glamorous figures; supposedly, half the city’s police were on their payroll
Burkhart, Jeff. Something to celebrate: Repeal of Prohibition. Marin Independent Journal, December 7, 2007.
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