Failures Of Prohibition

Speakeasies and saloons rose in prominence and secrecy. People entered speakeasies with secret passwords and cards. Entertainers and gangsters ruled the underground clubs and made them the center of the town. People flocked to speakeasies to thrive from the adrenaline of living dangerously while breaking laws. These “‘speakeasies’ thrived as long as Prohibition was the law of the land,” as stated by author Larry Clark. Most rebellious acts would not be considered without a law or rule preventing that act from happening. While many critics argue that there was some progress with prohibition such as the 30% drop in alcohol consumption, there will still some failures. According to Thornton’s analysis of the era, a “New Jersey businessman claimed
According to a prohibition study, “ the number of crimes increased 24 percent between 1920 and 1921” in 30 major cities (Thornton 6). People were arrested for defiance of laws, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Since law enforcement failed to reduce illegal drinking, “arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct increased 41 percent, and arrests of drunken drivers increased 81 percent” (Thornton 6). Most crimes were committed since prohibition destroyed jobs, was main source of illegal black market jobs and violence, and increased the prices of prohibited goods (Thornton 6). Prohibition also increased the prison population, where those convicted of theft, burglaries and murders were incarcerated in state prisons, as well as state and county jailhouses. The number of Prohibition violations and crimes continued to increase throughout prohibition. Corrupted government officials were also some of the major factor that crime rose during
According to Wayne Hall, “there were more murders in large cities such as Chicago arising from disagreements over illegal alcohol distribution,” and those in authority failed to address these problems. In fact, “Everyone from major politicians to the cop on the beat took bribes from bootleggers, moonshiners, crime bosses, and owners of speakeasies” (Thornton 8). The main goal of the government in passing the Volstead Act was for “the federal government” to fight for the “ unprecedented and relentless attempt to produce social change”(Clark 122). But this “social change” there seemed to be more negative affects than