Prohibition

Outline

Introduction

Discussion

Conclusion

Work cited

Introduction

Prohibition was introduced as the Eighteenth amendment to the constitution- 'the prevention by law of the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the US from 1920 to 1933' Passed by America's Federal Government, the law was first backed up with the Volstead Act, which laid down the penalties and the exact definitions of the alcohol prohibited, and was enforced with various degrees of success up until in was finally repealed by Roosevelt. There are several reasons, social, political and economic, why Prohibition was introduced- some seemingly more important than others.

Firstly, Prohibition was introduced in order for the government to gain more power over the people. By banning the production and sale of alcohol, the government gained the support of a large proportion of the public who were against drinking and the various forms of 'evil' that it brought. “Many votes were won in rural areas because politicians promised to support Prohibition, which helped those politicians to win the election” www.library.thinkquest.org/28892/prohibition/why/index.htm Politicians felt that they would be seen as supportive of the poverty and crime that alcohol was said to bring unless they backed prohibition. The government also brought in the Eighteenth amendment as a counter to communism, which was often linked to alcohol. The fact that 13 states across the US were already officially “dry” also helped persuade the Government that Prohibition was a necessary step.

The fact that the Government brought in Prohibition in order to gain support can be tied in with the fact that a lot of the alcohol consumed in America was made in breweries in Germany. In 1920 there was a lot of anti-German feeling due to the war, and many members of the public felt it that by drinking German alcohol they were essentially supporting the enemy. Propaganda of the time also taught the American public that the German violence shown during the war stemmed from the use of alcohol, and this contributed to the opinion that by drinking, an American was not being loyal and supportive of his country. This is linked to the fact that a lot people at the time had the general opinion that alcohol caused violence. Prohibition caused a drastic decline in the market for barley and grapes, the main ingredients in beer and wine.

Discussion

Since at least the turn of the century, reformers had been denouncing alcohol as a danger to society as well as to the human body. The true feeling behind this thought was that the use of alcohol was due to the influence of the city. The first American colonists started out with the belief that city life was wicked and evil, whereas country and village life were good (Sinclair 10). Later, during the war, the idea of prohibition was a way of keeping the country patriotic, and thus strong. A common phrase was “A drunk worker is not a productive worker” (McDonnell 394). Throughout history, there were many reasons to push a Prohibition amendment; however, though many of the ...