Consumption Of Alcohol In The 1920's

Analysis DePauw’s Drinking Culture through the Students’ Frontstage and Backstage Using Erving Goffman’s Theory of Presentation of Self

During the 1920’s alcohol was beginning to be viewed as a problem. Many groups complained about the various effects it had on culture. Women complained that their husbands would get drunk and beat their wife or children. In the business world managers and company owners complained that alcohol was the cause of men coming in late and coming in drunk or hungover which directly affected

The 1920’s, or “The Roaring 20’s”, was a decade that witnessed exciting social changes. It was a time of prosperity and dissipation, bootleggers and jazz dancers, and most importantly, it was a decade of The Prohibition Era. The Prohibition Era is basically an era which banned the manufacture, transportation, import and export, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to reduce crime, corruption, and social problems and increase the overall hygiene of America. However, this social and political experiment failed.

Crime rates went up and increased in numbers rapidly soon after the prohibition laws were put in place. The population continued to grow throughout the war with about forty- five million people that lived in the states, countries, or cities that forbade both the manufacture and selling of alcohol(Slavicek). With such a high population, much money was put into enforcing prohibition. The annual budget of the Bureau of Prohibition went from approximately $4,000,000 to $13,500,000 during the 1920s (Thornton). Prohibition just kept failing no matter how much money or law enforcement the government put into it. Journalist Richard Cowan invented The Iron Law of Prohibition stating that the more intense law enforcement was on a prohibited substance, the more popular the prohibited substances became(Thornton). When anything becomes prohibited, the product will become more popular, be adulterated with unknown or dangerous substances, and will not be produced and consumed under normal market constraints . Due to alcohol having such a high popularity imports began to take place through many ports. Bootleggers began smuggling liquor into the United States not just from Canada and Mexico but from other seacoasts and ships under foreign registry such as the Bahamas, Cuba, and the French islands and off the southern coast of Newfoundland(Prohibition). Prohibition made it more difficult to supply weaker, products, such as beer, than stronger, compact products, such as whiskey, because(Thornton). As prohibition laws were suspected to be broken more, and more law enforcement began to get involved. Law enforcement agencies began to use sting operations. Elliot Ness, a prohibition agent, that went undercover trying to catch people selling consuming, and producing alcohol, used the method of wiretapping to reveal the secret locations of breweries, while

My name is Austin Gansert. I am a high school student at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, CA. I am writing you today to talk about a very controversial topic: the legal drinking age. I believe that there are many benefits to having a lower drinking age of 18, rather than the current drinking age of 21. There are many benefits to having a lowered drinking age, which I will explain in this letter.

Bootleggers and other gangsters of the 1920s killed, cheated, stole, bribed, and in the case of Charles Birger, charmed their way into the hearts and memories of the American people with the same allure as the cowboys and outlaws of the old west. However, in the 1920’s, instead of bar fights and bank robbing, bootleggers raided the freight cars chock full of the “liquid gold” of prohibition: alcohol.

In his 1924 article, John Gordon Cooper claims that Prohibition had been an overall net positive force on society. According to Cooper, this force manifests itself in three ways. The first of these is the fact that many lives that would have been lost due to alcoholism and alcohol-related incidents have been saved as the cause of death was removed before it became a threat. Secondly, Cooper observes that the crime rate had gone down by 5.8 in 100,000 since Prohibition had been enacted (p. 193). He links this decrease directly to the absence of alcohol as a contributing factor to society. Finally, Cooper claims that Prohibition brought about a better economic situation for the nation as a whole. Cooper hypothesizes that since a significantly

In the 1820s, people were believed in the perfectionist. People believed that in order to be perfect, they shouldn’t involve in a violence. They claimed that to get rid of violence under influence of alcohol is to prohibit the sale of spirits. The temperance movement brought up the temperance to the public.The result of widespread of perfectionist, there were more than “6,000 local societies in several U.S. states (Prohibition)”. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrate the ill effect of alcohol. Characters like Bob Ewell and Dolphus Raymond show how those who drink are judged in the era of Prohibition.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby shows little, if any attention to political issues at the time. In the 1920s, also known as the “Jazz Age” the lifestyle is mostly driven by the wants and desire of individuals. Fitzgerald raises the lack of political concern at the time derived from the characters of the novel. The main political conflict is the fissure between the rich and the poor. Bootlegging alcohol was another problem in the 1920s; this is the reason why Gatsby became so wealthy. Foster explains in his novel How to read Literature like a Professor: “every story is written or inspired by the political problems around them, it contains the political reality of the time-power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice

As Americans, the citizens of the United States take a deep pride in our freedoms of a democracy. Throughout the history of this great nation, the inhabitants of the United States of America have taken to arms, protested and revolted against enemies; and even each other. One such paramount of history that sets the United States of America apart from that of other countries are the documents known as the Constitution of the United States of America. The aforementioned documents are the backbone of American law and justice; both ensuring a law by which all citizens are bound to, as well as, ensuring the freedoms of those same citizens. With regards to social issues that portray a side of both that pro and con, a singular amendment comes to mind:

Throughout history, there have been many ups and downs within American society. One period of time in which American economy was undoubtedly booming was the 1920s. The 1920s were a such an important period that there was even a name to define it - the Golden Age. As the Prohibition progressed, public disregard for the Prohibition led to significant changes in American culture. In addition to this, Prohibition enforcement was also occurring. Furthermore, the ongoing conflict surrounding the Prohibition affected the election of 1928 and political support for the presidential candidates at the time.

The main influence behind the lobbying of the prohibition was Anti-Saloon League, which only supported contenders who agreed with their views. During this time period, many Americans felt that drunkenness was an extreme issue. Even after the 18th Amendment was passed, it was no shocker when Americans were still craving alcoholic beverages. In the beginning stretch of the Prohibition Era, there was over 500 court cases in violation of the Volstead Act in Chicago alone. Of 300,000 illegal prescriptions for alcohol were issued by doctors. Moon-shining or home brewing rose up during this era. People were brewing alcohol at home in their basements, bathtubs, and other homemade stills. It was estimated the over 700 million gallons of liquor was brewed in home stills during 1929 alone. This method of producing alcohol was extremely dangerous. People were using just about anything to produce alcohol at home including, embalming fluid, rubbing alcohol, and antifreeze. The creation of this poisonous alcohol was the cause of thousands of death across the US during the prohibition

After World War I, when men came back to their families, they turned to alcohol to help chase away the memories. Women blamed alcohol for violence and crime. Starting in 1905 states were starting to pass laws on banning alcohol (“Teaching with Documents”). In 1910, the 18th amendment was passed, banning the production and sale of alcohol

Prohibition played a large role in the rise of organizes crime. With the belief that alcohol was a dangerous drug and the route to disruption in the communities and family structure, prohibitionists pushed to ban the sale of alcohol. They believed it was responsibility of the government to intervene and prohibit its sales (Lyman 2015), thus subsequently creating the National Prohibition movement. With alcohol now banned, it created a high demand in the black market and created a gold mine for crime (Lyman, 2015).

The American dream is something all people look forward to, even now, but it has been a long time since the dream was alive. Thomas Paine believed that America was an equall place where everyone get along, but the 1920s proved his ideals wrong. During the 1920s materialism, greed, and a corrupt government ruined the dreams of america and thomas paine; the book The Great Gatsby portrays thhis time period and proves that Thomas Pain was wrong about America.