Exam 2 Essay Question 2 - Prohibition PDF

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Exam 2 Essay Question 2 Lecture 10: Was prohibition a failed social and political policy? Key Terms: - Women’sChr i st i anTemper anceUni on( WCTU)used - “DemonRum” - used - Dr unkar d’sPat h - Ant i Sal onLeagueused - Ei ght eent hAmendment( Vol st eadAct )-used - Pr ohi bi t i on-used - Dr ys-used - Wet s-used - Boot l eggi ng - Mor al Hazar d

Prohibition was a complete failure, socially and politically, for many reasons. Prohibition, enacted by the eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act, was the ban on alcohol in America in the early 20 th century from 1920 to 1933. Prohibition started with the creation of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Salon League, both seeking to remove the dangers of alcohol and its repercussions. The WCTU were crusaders founded in 1864 by Frances Willard who sought to persuade American to restrain or reduce dramatically the consumption of alcoholic beverages due to the dangers of drinking. They created the term “demon rum” which referred to alcoholic beverages being the main cause of deaths in the workplace and domestic abuse at home. The WCTU looked to lessen consumption of alcoholic beverages by relying on the individual’s decision; whereas, the Anti-Salon League wanted to completely eliminate alcohol all together through the government intervention. The Anti-Salon league was a church organization that sought to remove alcoholic beverages through compulsory law. They used methods of science and studies to prove that alcohol was bad and were successful with the ratification of the 18 th Amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment, enacted in 1919, made illegal the production, transport, and sale of alcohol. The Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the 18th Amendment, defined which “intoxicating liquors” were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition such as medical and religious purposes. Although this might have sounded good on paper, prohibition did more harm than it did good. Supporters of prohibitions, Drys, and those who opposed, Wets each created arguments as to why prohibition was a success/failure. Although Drys argued that prohibition brought the liquor industry down in one step, alcohol consumption decreased greatly, and it improved American health, the supposed strengths did not outweigh the weaknesses. Prohibition was a failure because it led to the rise of organized crime, bootlegging, poorly enforced, increased political corruption, and creation of speakeasies. Speakeasies, an establishment that illegally sold alcoholic beverages, relied on bootleggers, people who illegally transported and sold

alcohol, which lead to the rise of organized crimes. Gangsters, like Al Capone, became rich and were able to influence underpaid law-enforcement personnel with bribes. The prohibition era led to the loosening of social morals along with the rise of corruption and organized crime. It was such a failure that 13 years later it was finally repealed by the 21st amendment....