Prohibition Era And Its Social Catastrophes
Prohibition failed. Even since American settling started, alcohol was consumed enormously and in large quantities. Many people, even since the start, fought for temperance – the regulation of alcohol consumption. A reason for this was the quantity of alcohol after cheap gin was introduced, first in London in 1724, and then in the US. Alcohol was in history portrayed by many things, from heavenly to satanic. From sciences of Benjamin Rush to slavery of Gerrit Smith, many arguments were made to outlaw alcohol. Their wish came true when the 18th Amendment and the Volstead act were passed, outlawing mainstream alcohol. However, this act was written in a way that allowed loopholes to be found. The price of alcohol rose immensely, and illegal alcohols were made, some of which were incredibly harmful. Illegal barrooms, called speakeasies, arose out of nowhere and illegal alcohol sale became more prolific, and illegal businesses were sometimes in residencies. However, prohibition was repealed in due time, and ended America’s “dry” fourteen years.
Events Leading up to Prohibition
American people seemed like an unlikely populace to ban alcohol, the country seemed. Many settlers from Britain were prolific drinkers, and almost everyone in America drank alcohol. Alcohol in America had a very cultural tie aside from Britain – it was regarded as a gift from heaven. It was called aqua vitae- the water of life. Because of this, alcohol was consumed immensely, in all parts of the country. At this time, people were as devoted to alcohol as they were to religion. However, the fight for temperance began with religious arguments. The first temperance activists made their cases by saying that drinking too much alcohol meant that one was not paying attention to religion. They were only persuading people to drink less alcohol, which was the ideal of temperance. What it would later become, prohibition, was the complete ban of alcohol, and not the original intent. This began an uproar for temperance because people were very devoted to alcohol, and the same and maybe even more to their religion. There were also many women fighting for temperance, as saloons, taverns, and barrooms were completely for men. All of these contributions were important steps to temperance, and eventually prohibition.
Another reason that many people were fighting for temperance was the issue of cheap gin, which was introduced in London in 1724. Today, gin has an alcohol content of 37.5-50%, but is usually not consumed in large quantities. This was consumed in many places, especially among the poor people. This became addictive, as alcohol can be, and since many poor people – some who were alcoholic – could not afford drinks with a less alcohol content. This then worked its way into saloons which were already a major social problem without many more opening due to the cheapness of gin and rum. Saloons were places men went to drink, and usually in large quantities. All saloons had a bad reputation for prostitution and gambling, which was true for some. In some saloons, if their profit dwindled, there would be a likelihood of the owners encouraging and engaging in illegal activity such as prostitution to attract others. This made all saloons associated with these things, but reputable places did not do this. Kinds of “science” were used to persuade people against excessively drinking. One of the most important of these people was Dr. Benjamin Rush. He is most famous for publishing the chart of “Moral and Physical thermometer of Intemperance” (1797). This was a chart written to describe the consequences of certain alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on a scale of -70 to 70, with 70 being the highest quantity of alcohol. Lowest down on the scale, were water and milk.
The consequences of these beverages were happiness and wealth. Highest on the scale was rum, brandy, rum, and whiskey during the day and night. However, Rush was not a prohibitionist of his time, and was just persuading people to drink alcohol of a smaller quantity, such as wine with opium. Part of the reason for this chart was likely because of the public’s worry about alcohol overconsumption. In older times, alcohol was so highly valued that it became a form of currency.
Prohibition and its Politics
However masked by the slavery debate, the temperance movement in the 1800s had many political attacks, including Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln spoke of a “Temperance Revolution”, but would have a very different meaning later. The anti-saloon league (ASL) also became a major part of the temperance revolution, although never becoming a major electoral force. Although the temperance speech was a common attraction in the 1800s, the ASL spent a lot of effort making sure laws would be put into place. They even spent $35 million between 1893 and 1926 trying to outlaw – and support the outlawing when it happened – of alcohol. This would be the equivalent of $880,442,857 – almost 900 million dollars nowadays. There is now debate amongst historians whether the ASL had spent money illegally.One of the most important political temperance activists was Gerrit Smith. Smith was an abolitionist, and although his hard work to free the slaves was complete, he died thinking his work was unfinished.
By this, he was referring to the overconsumption of alcohol. “Slavery is gone, but drunkenness still exists,” delivered Smith in his keynote speech. He frequently spoke of alcoholics or other intemperate people as “self-made slaves” or as a “new form of bondage”. Smith believed that these self-made slaves were unable to free themselves, and the party he belonged to mainly tried to support a federal law that banned drink that had ”power to intoxicate the madden or the drinker”. He also advocated that the “new form of bondage” could be more miserable, more grueling than the one he helped eradicate. “No outward advantages can bring happiness to the victim of alcohol- to him who has killed his own soul”, Smith said. He was one of the political temperance activists who tried to portray alcohol as poisonous, harmful in any quantity.In due time, alcohol was made illegal under the 18th amendment, and the volstead act passed after it, both under the veto of Woodrow Wilson. The Eighteenth Amendment was to ban manufacture, sale, transport, or import of “intoxicating liquors”. The Volstead act, named after Rep. Andrew J. Volstead of Minnesota, who first introduced the concept of this act, was the act responsible for the allowed enforcement and punishment for violating this amendment.
However, the act did not address how prohibition would be accomplished, and was not very concisely written. There was no way that people were not going to find loopholes to manufacturing and consuming alcohol. Congress would be able to choose ways to enforce this amendment, and appropriate legislation to accomplish the enormous task that was prohibition. The agency that was meant to enforce the Volstead act was called the prohibition unit, whose name was changed to the Prohibition Bureau in 1927. The Bureau did not have nearly enough supplies, although they were aided by Coast Guard and Police. They tried to find and tackle illegal transportation and consumption of alcohol, although they never had more than 3000 people on their force. This became corrupt very quickly, although some people had good intentions when joining the force. Ten days after prohibition started to be legally enforced, two agents were prosecuted for accepting bribes. Although the Bureau seemed like a major force, money was definitely not a peak of joining. The Bureau agents made somewhere between $1000 and $2000 every year – about $22000 today (stats taken Jan. 1923 and Dec. 2017 ($1500)).
It is speculated whether many people joined the force specifically for the bribe money.One of the issues that almost immediately sparked out of the Volstead act was organized crime, and the influx of money that corrupted the economy. Immediately after prohibition was enacted, people saw ways to make money off of alcohol smuggling, and most definitely carried these methods out. Alcohol was brought in from Canada and Mexico, from where it was bought for less of a price, and then sold in the US for much more money- when something becomes illegal, the price rises. This had lasting impacts on the world today. One man in particular, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, may have been responsible for contributing to the establishment of the still-problematic Mexican narcotics trade. This problematic change in money was a pathetically unforeseen consequence of outlawing something that already could make enormous revenue.Illegal
Transportation and Consumption
The bribes that were dealt out were those of the bootleggers, those responsible for the illegal transport of alcohol. Bootleggers found loopholes in the Volstead act to manufacture and sell alcohol. One of the most prominent ones was “near beer” and “real beer”. The Volstead act allowed for beverages that had less than 0.5% alcohol, and people used this and consumed it. However, many people started to sell their real beer instead of the “near beer”. Part of the reason that the Volstead act allowed for small amounts of alcohol was likely because of “near beer,” and fruit juices which would naturally ferment. Bootleggers used fruit juices which would naturally ferment, and put more yeast into the juice so it had a higher alcohol content. Alcohol was additionally disguised as fruit juices so higher alcohol content drinks could be sold. When the alcohol was being manufactured, the bootleggers were using stills to create it. There were two main ways it was made; “from scratch” and by distilling. When alcohol was created “from scratch,” yeast, corn sugar, and water were simply added to the mixture and let ferment. The other method was to distill industrial denatured alcohol. This type of alcohol would seem revolting- which it was. This is how the cocktail came about; alcohol was mixed with other juices to mask the awful taste. There were also many alcohols that were consumed illegally, some with menacing side effects. One of these was known as Jamaican Ginger. This was a cheap, black-market booze that was originally prescribed as a medicine with a dose of one or two drops in a glass of water. This drink had 80% alcohol, and was most definitely not meant to be consumed an entire bottle at a time-alone.
Within several days of consuming this, many people’s feet were paralyzed. There were 15000 cases of this nationwide in 1930 alone. Another thing that rose out of prohibition was the speakeasy. Speakeasies were illegal barrooms. These are mostly remembered by prohibition, but they did exist before it because alcohol license laws still existed. They started in the 1900-1910s when there were localized bans on alcohol. Speakeasies ranged from high end nightclubs to. There were more expensive speakeasies in New York and Chicago, but the food they served was only mediocre. What they did provide was entertainment, and was where the nightclub was conceptualized. The bad ones, however, served dangerous and possibly even dangerous quality alcohol. This was in part because the owners could not afford such alcohol, and in part because the clientele of these places were unable to afford it.
An Unsupported Change
A horrible and unexpected turn of events happened when the speakeasies became part of residencies. As one NYC police commissioner Grover A. Whalen noted, “All you need is two bottles and a room and you have a speakeasy”. This was entirely true, as cheap speakeasies were sometimes even brought into tenements – inexpensive and poor quality home for the poor and many immigrants at the time.
When people were engaging in illegal activities like this in very tight housing, the children noticed, and were very likely concerned – or even influenced by it. It is likely that people then, and definitely historians today, are and were very concerned about this. Children were influenced by this and had prohibition continued for longer than thirteen years, the outcome of the next generation could have been horrible in terms of illegal activity. It is now looked on as slightly imbecilic that illegal practices were so widespread, even the children of the time were directly affected.Another unprecedented change that came with prohibition was the attendance of women at prohibition era speakeasies and saloons. Before, the only women at saloons were prostitutes or protesters, but turned into customers of speakeasies. Although women were arriving at alarming rates, the men were not very appreciative of this. It was likely that men were keeping quiet about this as to not direct attention to their illegal activity.
However discreet people needed to be about their alcohol consumption, it is a true indication of secretiveness when, at that time, even the most disputed of topics was grudgingly tolerated just so one could continue to drink.Aside from speakeasies and saloons, there was politics. The great depression happened at the height of prohibition, and the economy was changing more than it previously was. Many people who did not support prohibition suggested that more jobs could be created if prohibition was repealed. However, the change in jobs would likely have been slight because of the immense number of jobs created by illegal alcohol transportation and sale. As the depression continued, it started to become clear that prohibition was far-fetched and unenforceable. Finally, in 1933, under the veto of Franklin D. Roosevelt, alcohol up to 3.2% was allowed, and at what must have been a very long nine months later, prohibition was repealed. However, this still allowed for local and state alcohol bans, which would soon dissolve, although local bans are still allowed. The activists finally gave in to what would become a freer, and ultimately more peaceful country.
Conclusion
After all that happened, prohibition did not work. Many historians have puzzled over the unforeseen consequences of banning a most prevalent thing. The many people that made their cases to outlaw alcohol may not have been as philanthropic as they seemed, although they were advocating for the help of other people. The many people who had celebrated when prohibition was accomplished may not have foreseen the terrible outcomes of what would come. However, like any event that can tear up a country, it is commonly said that the most important thing is not to let history repeat itself, but events like this are still happening today. The debates about marijuana today are strikingly similar to the debate of prohibition. Aside from many global conflicts, there still are issues within the United States. Prohibition is very skimmed-over in terms of history education, and if it continues to be ignored, the issues and failure of an instance like prohibition could occur again.
