Presentation Transcript

1. Prohibition in the US

   18th & 21st Amendments 1920 - 1933
2. What is Prohibition? A law that forbids manufacturing and selling alcohol. A lot of people thought of the 1920’s as a time of partying and fun. Prohibition was designed to reduce drinking by eliminating the business that manufactured, distributed and sold alcoholic beverages. Prohibition was the period of time when the women’s society set up the anti-saloon league and was trying to ban alcohol. Because of Prohibition, gangsters became very popular in this period.
3. Why did Prohibition Begin? The Prohibition Era began in January 16th, 1920 when United States prohibited the Manufacture and sale of mostly alcohol. And there are many reasons to the beginning of the Prohibition Era. The reasons are as follows: Medical Economic Social Because of these reasons, Congress passed the 18th Amendment of the Constitution: Prohibition of alcohol in the US.
4. Medical Reasons for Prohibition By this time people started to realize that alcohol damaged our health and could affect our lives. Many American men suffered from Sclerosis, which is caused by alcohol and lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. Those people suffered badly and eventually died. Because of this, many children fought their lives without their fathers, which led to families’ financial problems.
5. Economic Reasons for Prohibition Many laborers got drunk and could not perform their jobs properly. The absence from work each week was very high, therefore the company was less efficient. The company could not afford to produce the same products in the time that they should and the industrialists were not satisfied. Other people also insisted that buying beer meant that the money flew away to Germany because all of the brewers were actually located in Germany. The solution that people came up was instead of helping Germany with her economy that was to spend the large amount of money on some other necessities.
6. Social Reasons for Prohibition The last point of all was that the husbands were spending their family’s saving stupidly on alcohol instead of essential items, e.g. education. That problem led to family arguments, which eventually led to divorce. The problem pressurized women the most, therefore they set up the anti-saloon groups.
7. Life During Prohibition At first Prohibition seemed to succeed, crime rates fell, unemployment decreased and the economy was booming more than ever. But even after the law was set up, many Americans still carried on drinking and the number became larger and larger. Drinkers were against Prohibition, which created many groups who tried to avoid the law and consumed alcohol illegally.
8. Effects of Prohibition People couldn’t resist alcohol still so many “Speakeasies” were set up. Gangsters and crimes profited by selling the more expensive drinks when alcohol became illegal. Actually, there were more speakeasies during Prohibition than the legal saloons before this law set up! Speakeasies were the illegal saloons, setting up for the people who couldn’t resist alcohol. To enter these illegal saloons, password was required and the saloonkeeper wouldn’t open the door for unidentified people. Bootlegger, the one who sold liquors illegally. Bootleg, illegal stills Moonshine, type of homemade whiskey; harmful to drink.
9. Prohibition and Crime Prohibition did increase the crime rate during 1920s. Criminals and gangsters tried to find way to gain money by selling alcohol for a higher prize. The criminals and gangsters got richer, and they became more powerful; no one dared to stop them once they were armed with guns. Whenever police caught these gangs, the gangs often bribed or killed the police. Sometimes the police or the officers could be bought for the right prize to become one of the gangsters. And even some governments threw parties with alcoholic beverages. The criminals and gangsters ran the speakeasies, they bribed police, or they had either police or officials as their spies.
10. Al Capone Al Capone became one of the richest, famous, and most powerful gangsters’ leader in Chicago from 1925. Al Capone sold tons of illegal liquor (bootlegs) which was imported from Canada. Al got away from those who wanted to capture him; he did a lot for charities, so no one really cared that he was a bad guy because he gave them what they wanted and Al Capone was too powerful and too dangerous to stop. The police didn’t want to get involved in his business, or Al shot them down.
11. Why did Prohibition End? The government worried about Prohibition as the law increased crime rates and also made gangsters came to power. The women suffered even more from their husbands, who spent more money in the speakeasies. It looked as if there was no Prohibition, America could be even more peaceful. There were also some organizations against Prohibition such as the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA). In 1933 when the new President, F.D. Roosevelt was elected, the Congress pass the 21st Amendment which repealed the 18th Amendment.