1920's Social Changes

In general, Prohibition was enforced much more strongly in areas where the population was sympathetic to the legislation mainly rural areas and small towns and much more loosely in urban areas. The prohibition was also very difficult to enforce because the local police and commissionaires were receiving very lucrative bribes for they not to prosecute the bootleggers. Despite very early signs of success, including a decline in arrests for drunkenness and a reported 30 percent drop in alcohol consumption, those who wanted to keep drinking found ever-more inventive ways to do it. The illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor, also known as “bootlegging”, went on throughout the decade, along with the operation of “speakeasies”, nightclubs selling alcohol, the smuggling of alcohol across state lines and the informal production of liquor “moonshine” or “bathtub gin”, in private homes. This practice proved to be very dangerous because the level of alcohol was very high and that it could contain ethanol a dangerous type of alcohol that can be deadly.

The reason given by the Crimes Commission is illuminating. In Chicago crime, is not due to poverty or hard times. Crime is a business here,” (The New York Times, article Drink and Crime on January 8, 1920). That excerpt describes how a lot of people figured ‘why not go into crime, gangsters get money and alcohol’ and from that idea gangsters such as AL Capone, Legs Diamond and Dutch Shultz, and Bonnie and Clyde. To conclude, becoming a gangster seemed to be the better deal to some people during the

My grandfather stated, "I remember when the N word was automatically a fighting word, but now everyone and their mother are saying it with no consequence." Along came the eighties. The people from this time are now mostly found hidden behind bars somewhere for the rest of their lives or either somewhere trying their best to keep a decent lifestyle. Only a minority have actually came out and overcame deficits in their lifetime. In one the rapper, Young Dolph 's, song he stated, "Born in the eighties, crack babies.

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.

In a time after World War I, in which the United States emerged as a world military and industrial leader, many of the citizens wanted to return to the government’s old policy of laissez-faire economics. This was a drastic change from the strong sense of nationalism that arose throughout the citizens of the United States during World War I, creating acts such as the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it a crime to criticize the government’s war policy. The decade of the 1920’s ended with the crash of the stock market which eventually led to the Great Depression, a worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930’s. It is in this context that America began to break away from its past and transform into a more modern era. While

With the failure of the rehabilitation programs, the United States had to turn to the retribution model of punishment. Also at the turn of the decade into the 80’s, The War on Drugs kick started the epidemic of prison overcrowding, and launched America into a downward plunge of economic and political turmoil. The mandatory minimum sentencing policy that was in place did not help the situation either, giving long incarceration sentences to prisoners who didn’t deserve it. Criminals were given the minimum sentences for crimes, and judges carried them out precisely. Race and poverty were also side contributors that contributed to the bigger picture of the issue.

Soon laws were being conceived that would keep people from drinking. But the liquor business was a huge part of the economy, and many people still opposed prohibition. By 1919, 33 states had already enacted their own form of prohibition. And that same year, the Eighteenth Amendment was passed, banning

Accustomed to such inconsistent treatment. ……young people are bombarded with mixed signals about the scope of their rights and the depth of their responsibilities. And most of those mixed signals come from the laws of state and local government.” (Governing.com Page 1) These confusing laws make nothing easier and in fact they make young people’s lives more difficult.

That product was chunks of grape concentrate call "wine bricks". The bootleggers would make a type of moonshine called Bathtub Gin, it had a foul taste and those who were desperate enough to drink it would risk becoming blind or poisoned. The tainted alcohol killed as many as or even more than 10,000 people before the repeal of the 18th Amendment. One of the biggest reasons the prohibition failed was because they couldn't keep up with the crime it had caused.

After the Colombian government was able to assassinate Pablo on a rooftop. After his death, the amount of cocaine coming out of Columbia was slowed as a whole, so the price of the cocaine rose. Also, the American government began to do a better job of arresting anyone with the possession of cocaine or anyone who was related to the business of handling and selling cocaine. America was not able to eradicate the problem but fewer businessmen used the drug and it was riskier to have the drug for being caught could result in a hard

America experienced a sudden disregard of Victorian values following World War I, causing the generation of the 1920s to dramatically contrast the previous. This severe degree of change produced three major manifestations of the contradictions in the twenties. There were massive conflicts to the Jazz Age, technological advancements, and Black Migration. The contradictions of the 1920s reflect America’s conflicted state between advancement and convention, as the cultural and technological developments of the era coincide with the inability of individuals to stray from traditional norms and racist attitudes.

The rise of Detroit was caused by the economic boom the auto industry brought to the city during the early 1900’s. With the industry hiring and paying Detroit citizens, the middle class began to grow and people were then able to buy more luxuries. Some citizens started to buy heroin and other drugs for pleasure since they were able to then and this lead to the economy to be centered around illegal drugs during 1960-1970’s. This was the beginning of the fall of Detroit. With the breakdown of social control from the Vietnam War and the Social Justice movement during that time, the exchange of illegal drugs was not able to be controlled because the cops were preoccupied with containing riots regarding to the war and the movement.

When the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was thought of, we thought that it would help us. We thought it would take the crime rates down; however we never dreamed it would bring them up. From 1919 to 1933 the crime rates went up tremendously, prohibition helped the bootleggers, the dope sellers, the gangsters, and the racketeers. This time period became known as the great depression. Why did Americans repeal the 18th Amendment and make alcohol legal again?

America changed its mind though because depression started and murder rates started to rise. When prohibition got passed, a lot of people to get a taste of beer or whiskey back so bad that they were willing to do whatever it took for them to get it. A good majority of these people were gangsters, dope sellers, bootleggers, and racketeers, as shown in document A. They were all types of drunks.

The Eighteenth Amendment, also known as the Prohibition Act, took effect as of January 16, 1920, outlawing the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages in the United States from January 1920 till December 6, 1933. Prohibition was established to reduce the effects that alcohol had on families and on society. When primarily men consumed too much alcohol, their actions often resulted in domestic violence,often interfering with men's work performance, and money wasted that the family needed to support families. The prohibition period was very unsuccessful due to people wanting and doing whatever it took to get alcohol now that it was illegal, no matter how enforced prohibition was, leading to many Americans smuggling illegal alcohol