by Jas Keith
Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson instituted a temporary wartime prohibition in order to save grain for food production. In the same year, Congress submitted the 18th Amendment for state ratification which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors. On 17th January, 1920, it went into effect and USA officially entered the Prohibition Era.
Despite very early signs of success those who wanted to keep drinking found incredibly inventive ways to do it. Illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor, known as bootlegging, went on throughout the decade, along with the operation of speakeasies (stores and/or underground nightclubs selling alcohol). Alcohol was smuggled across state lines with informal production of liquor like moonshine and bathtub gin in private homes.
This era encouraged the rise of criminal activity associated with bootlegging. An example was the notorious gangster Al Capone, who earned about $60 million annually just from bootlegging and his speakeasies. He controlled about ten thousand speakeasies and ruled the bootlegging business from Canada to Florida.
Corruption in law enforcement became widespread as criminal organizations bribed officials to keep them in their pockets. It was extremely detrimental to the economy. It started eliminating jobs supplied by what had formerly been the fifth largest industry. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to drugs, opiates and other dangerous substances that people would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition.
It also hurt other businesses that supported the spirits industry. Bottle manufacturing declined sharply as there were no more whiskey, beer and wine bottles needed. Printers lost the business of making labels for said bottles and railroads lost business shipping finished spirits, as well as the raw materials used to make alcoholic beverages. Newspapers lost advertising revenue. Most importantly, it hurt farmers. Grain prices dropped drastically. Two years before the 1929 stock market crash, farmers were burning their crops in the field because it would cost them more than they could get on the market to harvest the grain that could have been sold to distilleries and breweries. The income tax collected from the workers and the companies still in existence was also only a fraction of what was collected before Prohibition and so national debt grew.
By the end of the 1920s, Prohibition had lost its lustre for many who had formerly been the policy’s most ardent supporters. It was finally done away with by the 21st Amendment which came to effect on 5th December, 1933.
Ironically, despite the 18th Amendment being called the noble experiment, it ended up causing more problems than it solved. It was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses and improve health and hygiene in America. Although the law was passed to increase public welfare, the result was quite the opposite. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume, crime increased and became organized, the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point and corruption of public officials was rampant. Ultimately, when the Era ended everyone slowly started becoming better off than they were during the Prohibition times.
References:
• History. Prohibition. Accessed on: 12th July. https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/prohibition