The Prohibition Analysis

The Prohibition era lasted from 1920 through 1933, and was an attempt to legislate morality. It took a Constitutional amendment to enact it, and another one to repeal it. The attempt to decrease the "evils" of alcohol actually created more, new types of crime. (Lerner, 2011). Movements had swept through portions of the United States throughout the 19th century, but it was World War I that provided the first opportunity for the anti-alcohol movement to enact a national ban on alcohol. Anti-alcohol sentiment in Congress led to legislation known as the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917, which regulated food, fuel, and other commodities that might be needed for the war effort. It was argued that the grains needed to distill alcohol were
The result of this new amendment outlawed the manufacturing and sale of alcohol for the purpose of human consumption. The Volstead Act gave federal authority to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment and saw the creation of the Prohibition Bureau. This new bureau was controlled by the Treasury Department however, the agents were known to be corrupt (Levinthal, 2012). Ironically, the Prohibition Bureau unintentionally trained “bootleggers.” Agents would learn the “ins and outs” of alcohol manufacturing then give up law enforcement for new illegal endeavors (Levinthal, 2012). Interestingly, much of the work that went into making alcohol illegal was moot. Prohibition didn’t create a society or culture without alcohol (Levinthal, 2012). Alcohol was readily available in “underground” clubs and bars. While alcohol was available and consumed in secret, the clandestine alcohol being manufactured, many times was toxic as a result of chemicals added in the manufacturing process. This time in our nations history was a time of lawlessness and created an unintentional burden within the judicial system (Levinthal,
The positive aspect of the Depression era was the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. The Great Depression created a need for change in American society. While the federal government was in need for funds to pay for Depression-era programs, tax dollars from the sale of alcohol met that need. The Twenty-first Amendment repeal the ineffectiveness of the Eighteenth amendment, making the sale and purchase of alcohol legal (Levinthal, 2012). The lasting effect can be seen in the federal Transportation