The Impacts of Prohibition, Essay Example

In United States history, Prohibition is also the so-called Noble Experiment. This period persisted between 1920 and 1933 when the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the country were banned. Nationally, it was illegal to transport any liquor for consumption, a situation mandated in the country’s Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution. This paper looks into an overview of prohibition including how it influenced the culture during the entire period of existence.

Substantial pressure from many temperance movements forced the country’s Senate to propose the Amendment dating December 18, 1917. The amendment was approved by close to 36 states. The senate later ratified it on January 16, 1919 and put into effect on January 16, 1920. It was clear that some state legislatures had imposed the band already even prior to the ratification within their senates. The “Volstead Act” that was popularly the name for this Prohibition Act, was passed via Congress and the then President Woodrow Wilson’s on October 28, 1919. It was then that the establishment was legally done in coming up with definitions of what it means by referring to intoxicating liquor (Moore 127-181).

The Volstead Act might have enacted prohibitions to selling alcohol but it did very little in the enforcement of the law. There was illegal production as well as distribution of alcohol increasing rampantly yet the national government had little it could use to enhance the implementation of this laws. By mid 1925, New York City alone had from 30,000 to 100,000 of the upcoming speakeasy clubs. The prohibition by then was becoming less popular because of the Great Depression and this was the case especially in the country’s large cities. In 1933, March 23, President Roosevelt signed the amendment law to the Volstead Act referred to as the Cullen-Harrison Act, making it legal to manufacture as well as sell certain alcoholic beverages because of the high pressure that mounted regarding the prohibition act (Moore 127-181).

The prohibition has had a great impact in the country for the entire period. A great experience is the way rural Americans started making their own hooch and corn whiskey. The local brews included the “bathtub gin” brewed in northern cities of the country, and “moonshine” that was popular in the rural areas including Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.  The great depression was a challenge to many individuals who were thriving and surviving in selling alcohol at the time and they had to make ends meet (Moore 127-181). They had to be creative enough and therefore came up with home liquors. Many of these brewers supplied neighbors with moonshine. These were very strong spirits from the suppliers direct from their homes. The interesting part was the improvements done on their cars. They had a belief that enhancing their engines would develop faster vehicles. This would in turn be of help in escaping from the police incase they were caught smuggling the liquor. The aim was to outrun these government revenuers, and all the supervising agents of the alcohol Bureau, firearms and Tobacco (Moore 127-181).

Rum running was also revived as a vibrant trade in the country. The smuggling of Liquor in station wagons, boats, and trucks from Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean became very vibrant because it was the only way to get liquor into the country. This time “The Real McCoy” term came to be and became popular globally. It is connected to Captain McCoy, the facilitator of the rum running through ships during the entire period of prohibition. The facilitator began running rum actually from the Caribbean into the state of Florida after the prohibition begun. An encounter with the country’s Coast Guards thereafter stopped him from completing these runs on his own. He then set to bring in new ideas and set up a strong network of small but many ships that met his big boat outside U.S. waters carrying the supplies into the country (Moore 127-181).

One of the popular ideas during the prohibition times was the mob control of illegal trafficking of liquor that was rampant in many states. Most of this was in Chicago where the public held the responsibility of making sure that no one would be allowed to transport liquor across the country. This culture was common among the people from the teachings and regulations by the law (Moore 127-181). It was through the period of prohibition that movements came up in United States. The “dry”, movement started in the late 1840s. The main leaders were pietistic religious denominations, mostly appreciated by the Methodists. The late 1800s experienced the broadening of this movement focus into instilling abstinence to all individual behavior as well as institutions related to consumption of liquor. Preachers for instance, Reverend Matthews linked saloons with illegal prostitution (Moore 127-181).

Prohibition had great impact in the field of music. A lot came up in this field following the declaration and implementation of the prohibition law. Thomas Edison studio recorded the son “Save A Little Drama for Me” during the prohibition era. It became a hit in the country, even leaving a mark in the state of the country (Moore 127-181). It is from prohibition that many social problems shot in United States. Mafia groups in that period only limited their daily activities to theft and gambling until 1920, when there was a manifestation from bootlegging in response to Prohibition effect. The black market flourished and gangs corrupted many law enforcement agencies. This led to racketeering and liquor surged more into popularity due to its potency making it profitable to smuggle (Moore 127-181).

Works Cited

Moore, H. Alcohol and Public Policy: Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition. Washington,   DC: National Academy Press, 1981. pp. 127-181.