What was Prohibition, who opposed it, and why did it fail?
During the early twentieth century, many temperance organizations began to form with a goal of “policing the behavior of the poor, the foreign-born, and working class”(Tindall & Shi 1031). Organizations such as the Women’s Christian Temperance League and the Anti-Saloon League were mostly filled with women who advocated for a “national prohibition law” because intoxicated men would abuse their wives and children within their households(Tindall & Shi 1031). This eventually led to the passage of the eighteenth amendment where it outlawed the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The Volstead Act stated the actual rules from the eighteenth amendment but “had so many loopholes” that it was not going to be successful(Tindall & Shi 1032).
The passage of the eighteenth amendment led to “speakeasies” which was another word for “illegal drinking” and bootlegging, which was the profit made from selling illegal liquor(Editors 1). Bootlegging led to the creating of many gangs and illegal activity. At first, gangs tried “smuggling foreign-made commercial liquor into the United States”(Editors 4). However, the Coast Guard began to extensively check
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Hence, shortly after taking office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt “signed the Cullen-Harrison Act” which repealed the Volstead act and allowed for the manufacturing of low content alcoholic beverages(Editors 6). This eventually led to the twenty first amendment which “ended prohibition”(Tindall & Shi 1102).However, the amendment allowed “prohibition to be maintained at the state and local levels”(Editors 6). The prohibition lasted 13 years and was a time where America wanted to achieve “perfection”(Editors 3). However, the faulty results quickly led to the downfall of the new law, but it did leave a lasting impression on many