Prohibition Era Essay Examples

1920 - 1933

United States

The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified in the hopes of eliminating alcohol from American life. In that respect, it failed. Corruption in law enforcement became widespread as criminal organizations used bribery to keep officials in their pockets. Prohibition was detrimental to the economy as well, by eliminating jobs supplied by what had formerly been the fifth largest industry in America.

By the end of the 1920s, Prohibition had lost its luster for many who had formerly been the policy’s most ardent supporters, and it was done away with by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933.