XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX American History X/XX/XXXX Speaking Easy During The Roaring Twenties: The Effectiveness

of Prohibition. 1919 - 1933

The prohibition of alcohol from September 5, 1919, to December 5, 1933, was enforced by the Volstead Act. However bootleggers, rum runners, and organized criminal gangs sought to undermine the legislation of prohibition. As speakeasies sprouted from every corner of the country the Temperance Movements progress seemed to be in vain. The goals of alcohol prohibition may have been reasonable, but the effective implementation of regulating the Eighteenth Amendment was far too difficult. Without the regulation of alcohol, prohibition became one of the most ineffective and disobeyed aspects of our government to date. The instalment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1919 was due largely in part to lobbying by the Anti-Saloon League (Document A). Backed by Protestant ministers, women, Southerners, and rural Northerners, the Volstead Act attempted to prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes, and to ensure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye, and other lawful industries. While these groups all shared the goal of improving society, The Roaring Twenties would demonstrate that the American society did not wish to be improved. The Roaring Twenties marked a period of economic prosperity, jazz music, flappers, and art deco. In a time of pushing social boundaries alcohol prohibition did not stand a chance.

Speakeasies ran rampant throughout the entire country. Going against federal laws, speakeasies continued to operate throughout the 1920s as if breaking the law did not come with any consequences. A speakeasy could operate from an upscale club in New York City to a barn in the Pennsylvania countryside (Document B). Disregarding the Volstead Act these speakeasies reeled in millions in profits. These profits are what hooked bootleggers into a lucrative criminal business of smuggling liquor. Rum-runners and bootleggers were the heart and soul to providing Americans with liquor during the 1920s. Without the smuggling of liquor from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, America may have remained a dry nation. Bootleggers were a slap in the face the Eighteenth Amendment (Document C). The Caribbean became a zone of illegal trade as rum-runners remained three miles off the American coast, outside of US jurisdiction, and hired fisherman to bring the alcohol ashore. Likewise, bootleggers would sail the Great Lakes and smuggle alcohol from Canada. The only presence in their path was the US Coast Guard, however, this presence was nonexistent. Rum-runner ships could often out run a standard CG-100 patrol boat, and if they were caught, they could repurchase their ships at auction. The benefits of becoming a rum-runner included a several hundred thousand dollars per year salary compared to the insignificant six thousand dollars per year made by Coast Guard captains. With this alcohol, gangs throughout the country would be supplied with enough alcohol to influence and control entire cities. With speakeasies on the rise, and enough alcohol to supply a nation of party-goers, all the American party needed was a host to organize the event: gangs. Gangs controlled the liquor markets of the Roaring Twenties through organized crime. One of the more famous gangs was The Chicago Outfit also known as the Capones. This infamous gang ran by the notorious Al

Capone controlled the liquor market from Illinois to Florida (Document D). Capone commanded the underground market for liquor in Chicago especially. It has been estimate that from 1925 to 1929 Capone raked in 100 million dollars per year from Chicago alone. Through bribing local politicians and police departments Capone was able to disregard all liquor laws and successfully run his illegitimate business. While Capones actions were illegal, the public shared his ideas for liquor. From its instalment into the Constitution, the Eighteenth Amendment lacked legitimacy in the eyes of the public who were previous drinkers (Document E). As the twenties progressed, so did support for repealing the Eighteenth amendment. While the prohibition had curbed Americas drinking initially, as alcohol proliferated Americans began to raise their glasses once again. Public support for the Eighteenth Amendment took a steep decline in the early 1930s, and as the Great Depression began President Roosevelt saw an opportunity. This opportunity of not only appealing to the public as the President who repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, but raising money from one of the only markets that continued to prosper despite the depression, convinced Roosevelt to sign the Twenty-first Amendment. As Roosevelt sat down to sign the Twenty-first Amendment he said "I think this would be a good time for a beer." After the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1935, Americans once again could witness the legal sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages on a federal level. It took until 1966 for Mississippi to sign the Twenty-first Amendment, and up until 1987 Kansas did not allow public bars. Today states are in charge of regulating their own liquor laws, and some areas continue to remain dry. The implementation of alcohol prohibition as a nation was futile as criminal markets flourished on illegal sales and distribution. While the prohibition did lead to less alcohol consumption per-capita, Americans continued to drink in disregard to

federal law. The prohibition was ineffective in regulating the market the Eighteenth Amendment sought to destroy. Widespread crime and smuggling is a testament to the lawlessness which spat in the face of prohibition effectiveness. The ratification of the Twenty-first amendment was the atomic bomb to the temperance movement as Americans became free to drink once again without fearing legal retribution. It was this public lawlessness that proves the ineffectiveness of prohibition during the Roaring Twenties.