Prohibition was introduced in the United States in 1920 to curb alcohol consumption and reduce social problems. However, it failed to achieve its goals and instead strengthened organized crime. Prohibition faced practical enforcement issues as only 3000 officers were tasked with nationwide enforcement, leaving them prone to corruption. It also led to the growth of powerful criminal gangs that capitalized on illegal alcohol production and distribution. While some groups strongly supported Prohibition, there was also significant opposition from politicians, business leaders, and society who still wished to consume alcohol. Prohibition was ultimately repealed in 1933.

1. Prohibition

2. Key
• Red writing – years/dates
• Yellow writing – historical evidence
• Blue writing – key words/phrases
• Purple writing – evaluation points

3. The introduction of Prohibition
• Prohibition was supported by the WASPs of small-town rural America.
• It was thought that restrictions on alcohol would make America more
moral.
• 1917: The 18th Amendment bans the manufacture of intoxicating
alcohol (but doesn’t define ‘intoxicating alcohol’).
• By this time, 27 states had already passed Prohibition laws; the 18th
Amendment made it a Federal law.
• 1919: The Volstead Act defines ‘intoxicating alcohol’ as any beverage
containing more than 0.5% alcohol (effectively making America ‘dry’).
• 1920: Prohibition comes into force.

4. That Prohibition was a failure

5. 1) Practical enforcement problems
1) The Treasury was put in charge of enforcing Prohibition, but only
3000 officers, on an average salary of $2500, were charged with the
task.
• Prohibition, as a nationwide issue, could not have been enforced with 3000
officers.
• Their small salary left them prone to corruption; during the 1920s, 10% of all
Prohibition officers were fined for corruption (and this was just those who
were caught).
• HOWEVER there were some successes with enforcement; Eliot Ness led the team which
finally put Al Capone in jail.

6. 1) Practical enforcement problems
2) It was still legal to get medicinal alcohol; many people bribed
doctors for prescriptions, or doctors sold alcohol on to bootleggers.
• George Remus, a doctor at the time, made $5m in five years by selling
medicinal alcohol to bootleggers to take to the city speakeasies.
3) The popularity of gangster-run speakeasies made it easy to get
alcohol; a ‘strange’ in a big city could find alcohol in 20 minutes, and
there were more places to get illegal alcohol during Prohibition than
there had been to get legal alcohol before Prohibition.
• Deaths from alcoholism rose by 600%.
• HOWEVER you could only get illegal alcohol in places that didn’t support
Prohibition; counties and states that did still made it almost impossible to get
alcohol.

7. 1) Practical enforcement problems
4) Farmers could make moonshine from corn and wheat, which they
sold to bootleggers to take to speakeasies.
• This was incredibly dangerous, as there was no regulation of the production
of illegal alcohol; one brand, Jackass Brandy, could cause internal bleeding.

8. 2) Growth of organised crime
1) While organised crime already existed in America, Prohibition
allowed it to capitalise on illegal alcohol; money that would have
gone to the government from legal alcohol now went to gangsters.
• John Torrio retired with $30m while Al Capone was on $60m a year.
2) Gangsters had ‘friends in high places’, with much government
corruption being due to gangster influence.
• John Torrio had Mayor ‘Big Bill’ Thompson of Chicago on his side, and rigged
elections to ensure that he remained in office to give gangsters free reign in
the city.
• Al Capone spent 11 years in Alcatraz for tax evasion, rather than the
approximate 400 deaths that he had ordered, due to his political influence.

9. 2) Growth of organised crime
3) Organised crime led to a growth in violent crime; the St Valentine’s
Day Massacre can be directly linked to Prohibition gangsters, and
those responsible were never convicted.
• The occurrence of these crimes led to many living in fear, especially as the
mob had influence over the judiciary system.

10. 3) Opposition within society and
government
1) The Volstead Act passed through Congress in 3 days, but this did
not mean that the government supported Prohibition; many
politicians still liked a drink, and didn’t want to upset rich and
influential voters who also refused to give up alcohol.
• At the Democratic Party Convention in 1920, delegates were offered illegal
whiskey free of charge.
2) Business tycoons who had supported Prohibition, such as
Rockefeller and Heinz, showed no signs of wanting to adhere to the
Prohibition laws.

11. 3) Opposition within society and
government
3) There were divisions between the supporters of Prohibition about
how the laws should be enforced; one group wanted the
punishments for breaking the laws to be harshly enforced, while the
other favoured educating people against the dangers of alcohol and
thus preventing people from taking up drink in the first place.

12. That Prohibition was a
success

13. 1) Extent of support
• There were many pressure groups which clamoured for Prohibition,
such as the Women’s Temperance Union, the Anti-Saloon League and
business tycoons.
• Prohibition was most favoured in the Southern States, which had the
highest proportion of WASPs, which made them more politically
influential; as the Southern States are larger than the Northern
States, they have more representatives in Congress.
• This led to the passing of the Volstead Act in just 3 days.

14. 1) Extent of support
• These groups continued to support Prohibition throughout the 1920s
and even up to its repeal in 1933.
• Furthermore, by the end of Prohibition, the supporters also had the
gangsters on their side, who didn’t want alcohol to become legal
because this would mean that they lost their main money-maker.
• Al Capone thought of himself more as a businessman than a criminal.
• Prohibition was only repealed because, by 1933, the effects of the
Depression meant that the government needed the money that
would be made by taxes on alcohol and the legal jobs that it would
create to begin fixing the problems in the economy.

15. 2) The achievement of its aims
Aims
• 1) Make society more moral
• 2) Make people drink less
• 3) Make the workplace safer by
reducing alcohol-related
workplace injuries
Achievements
• 1) There were less arrests for
drunkenness
• 1) Fewer instances of drink-driving
• 2) The average alcohol consumption fell
from 2.6 gallons per year to 1 gallon
• 2) Alcohol was harder to obtain; places
that supported Prohibition made it
impossible to obtain alcohol, while the
price rises made it unavailable to the
working class
• 3) There were fewer workplace incidents