Prohibition

Till World War I, breweries and distilleries had managed to stem those who wanted to prohibit alcohol because their lobbies were powerful. But the records of the war had shown that between 1911 and 1914 heavy drinking had reached a peak.

Besides, the prohibitionists believed it would be a radical solution: it would save some income, it would cleanse politics and increase the safety on plants.

The middle-class thought its values were endangered. For them, the drinking habits of the poor were an insult to morality. They also considered the saloon as a refuge for the immigrants.
Yet, in the North, many people felt it was an interference with individual freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Secondly, Prohibition was supposed to clean up society and stop corruption from happening ever again.  Alas, this was not the case.  One reason for corruption was that the bootleggers made a large sum of money while the police who enforced Prohibition received almost no pay for their work.  When a bootlegger bribed a police officer, the officer would almost jump to take it because of the police department’s meager funds.  This was not healthy for America because it heavily supported becoming a criminal and left few honest lawmen out on the streets. 

The police were not the only ones who would accept bribes.  Politicians were paid large sums of money to protect a gang or bootlegger from the wrath of the Bureau of Prohibition or other similar law enforcement agencies.  This ruined the judicial system and also supported crime and its hold over liquor.  This, to many people, was the worst thing about the Prohibition era.

Drinking behaviors changed. Hard drinking increased especially among groups. People gathered in illegal bars called speakeasie to drink.

On the whole, the prohibition proved to be a failure socially and politically. During the Great Depression, public opinion realized it deprived many people of their job and that it contributed to the economic stagnation of the country.

crime rate and maybe get rid of crime altogether.  Alas, that was not to be.  Soon after National Prohibition was passed, the crime rate shot past the all-time high and created the highest homicide rate of the early 20th century.  Apart from not getting rid of crime, Prohibition encouraged criminals to become more organized, thus creating more gangs.  This section of our website will cover how people got their liquor, major gangsters of the Prohibition era, and the crime rate before, during, and after National Prohibition

...