Prohibition Negative Effects

Prohibition was supposed to lower or eliminate crime and corruption, boost productivity, assist with war efforts, and change or reduce social problems dealing with the nations morality. It was also said by government to lower taxes. Unfortunately, just the opposite occurred. And for the 14 years that followed the inauguration of the 18th amendment, more americans than ever broke the law and became “bootleggers”. The Temperance movement started the ball rolling on the prohibition trail. Carry Nation, a prominent agitator in the women’s temperance movement believed that she was ordained by God. She would enter saloons and destroy them by wrecking the bars and destroying their stock with rocks and axes. It was said that her actions my

The expectations of clothing and household goods did not skyrocket as expected. Neighborhoods did not improve, drinking now moved into the homes, hidden into areas and brining domestic violence. The real estate developers or landlords did not see the increase in rents possibly due to the unemployed. As well, the projected increase to leisure activity such as the theater never came. Many businesses failed and were forced to close. The breweries, distilleries and saloons that closed impacted the worker much worse than most thought. Not only did the establishment workers lose their jobs, but so did thousands of barrel makers, truckers, waiters and other related trades. Even the California based grape industry was forced to close more than 700 wineries. The growers pulled up their vines thinking their industry had evaporated due to prohibition, creating an enormous shortage of grapes. The realization of the mistake made the growers replant the vines at a greedy larger acreage which ultimately force the price of wine to a all time low by the end of the prohibition erra. Sadly, law enforcement and government employees, the prohibition agents, were not above the negative effects. They were tempted with bribes and lucrative bootlegging opportunities. Many were able to uphold the law but enough caved to the corruption to make public trust in law enforcement at a low. Millions of americans became criminals, clogging the court rooms and jails filling them to capacity. Some trials were held over for more than a year causing the judicial system to develop the “plea bargain”. This cleared hundreds of cases and became a common practice, even used to this