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Unsuccessful Prohibition In The 1900's

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Prohibition
“Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on earth.” This is a quote said by Will Rogers on discussing how unsuccessful prohibition was in the mid 1900’s. Prohibition was the banning of manufacturing, transportation, importation, and sale of intoxicating liquors, in the year 1920 (“Eighteenth Amendment”). They thought alcohol was leading to crime, poverty, and corruption. Alcohol was being considered evil. Prohibition was one of the most unsuccessful acts that changed the landscape of America by the creation of speakeasies, organized crime, and the dangerous black market.
Prohibition brought about …show more content…

Many people would bootleg alcohol to make a quick buck. Bootlegging is the sale, transportation, and importation of alcohol. They would smuggle it and import it from Canada or Mexico borders. The smugglers would not get paid nearly as much as who they were smuggling it for. Prohibition made it very easy for people to make a really big profit, but if one got caught they would be facing jail time. Bootleggers would have to watch out for other smugglers, as they would rob each other. Having your own bootlegging business was the fastest, easiest and most profitable way to make money back then. The river between Detroit and Canada was used a lot to get across the border. Alcohol was no longer made in the united states, other than alcohol used for medication. Illegal alcohol made in America was either made in a bathtub, makeshift brewery, or a nice secret brewery. People would spend ridiculous amounts of money on alcohol because they wouldn’t know the next time they could get it, even at the cost of them getting into legal trouble. Many people didn’t care if they could get in trouble for having it. Once you were in the business of bootlegging there was no leaving because the money was great and people. Low ranked Bootleggers would get trapped in the business selling it. Also there bosses were very intimidating that they were scared that they would be killed for quitting. The crime rate also increased dramatically during prohibition.

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