Prohibition was a time in U.S. history that banned production of Alcohol, and the sale of alcohol. Thhis period is known as the 18th amendment, that started in 1920 and ended in 1933.Before Prohibition.Before the progressive era, drinking was lagal and many people would drink on a regular basis. A lot of people thought that drinking caused diseases, and caused most spousal abuse. Before prohibition, many counties in states banned the production, consumption, and the sale of this liquid known as alcohol.Women were a big part of spreading temperance, as women started gaining more and more power in the U.S. In 1874 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was created, which lead to the Anti-Saloon League in 1895, which banned saloons in certain parts of states.During Prohibition.
During Prohibition Things were diffrent. There weren't local bars open, people didn't have big gatherings with alcohol with it, unless they were into bootlegging and rum running, which alot were. This led to alot of corruption, and under the table business. Liquor companies were not allowed to make any distilled drinks, such as beer, wine, and hard liquor. This led to making your own "hooch". Alot of people made profits from making there own, and selling it to their neighbors and family. In rual states such as West Virginia and Tennessee and alot of other southern states, many moonshine distilleries were raided and people were fined heavily for making spirits and marketing them.As far as having a public place to drink, "Speaksies" were made. Speaksies were local underground bars that people could go to drink at, of course to do this, you had to know the right people. They were usually under local businesses.
The Volstead Act made it so that as long as it wasn't more than 200 gallons a year, people could make wine and cider at home. If you also had alcohol made before the ratified 18th amendment, you could drink it, or even sell it for money.The 1920's were known for crime, corruption, smuggling, and prostitution. Many gangs were into organized crime, and prospured well from it. Al Capone, the most famous gangster in Chicago, had his gangs smuggle millions of gallons of alcohol into the U.S. They would then sell the alcohol for profit, and even have speaksies that they controlled. Along with having this, he corrupted many cops to let the drinking go on. By the 30's, he had control of thousands of speaksies in Chicago, and the surrounding area.
Bringing Prohibition to an End.During the early 30's, in every state people wanted to end prohibition, and the corruption that came with it. People were sic of it, and wanted it to end. In 1933 President Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act. This act made manufacturing 3.2 % of beer and light wine legal.Even after this happened, many states and counties tried to ban alcohol, and made local bans on it. The last state to be dry was Missippi, and it changed in 1966 and finaly allowed alcohol back into state lines.Alcohol todayToday, there are still counties that are dry. Most counties only ban sales, but some even ban transportation of alcohol. The restrictions today on alcohol are you must be 21 to buy and consume. We do have lots of problems with alcohol, like underage drinking, binging, and drunk driving.In my opinion, Prohibition was rediculious. It is personal opinion, but its crazy to take alcohol away like the 18th amendment did. It brought so much more crime, corruption, and violence to the country, and it wasn't all worth that just to ban alcohol. In my opinion, in moderation, alcohol is just fine.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_Stateshttp://prohibition.osu.edu/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1017http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/402.htmhttp://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm
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