The Role Of Prohibition In The 1920's

The 1920’s was filled with many new social movements created in order to improve the country. While some changes benefited the nation, others seemed to backfire. On January 17, 1920, prohibition was passed which prevented the consumption and production of alcohol (History.com Staff). Although this became a national amendment, millions chose to turn a blind eye toward this reformation. Alcohol was secretly made and imported to the United States and became a guilty pleasure of most Americans. Speakeasies, which were hidden illegal bars, became a widely popular way for people to mingle and party with access to illegal alcohol. There were many companies that aided the speakeasies and successfully snuck alcohol into the United States, leading alcohol
Alcohol was often smuggled across Canadian borders, increasing the success of Canadian brewery businesses such as Corby’s (Northern Marina). Bootleggers would hide the liquor in the engines of their cars when crossing the border to avoid being caught (“National”). After crossing the border, bootleggers would enroute on the Dixie Highway, which ran from Michigan to Florida. Moonshine was widely distributed along this highway, and smugglers would enhance their cars’ speed to outrun police (Mueller). Rum also became widely popular and was smuggled from the Bahamas by William McCoy and his men who were known as “rum runners” (Mueller). This proved successful as the water route between the Bahamas and America was loosely guarded by the Coast Guard (“National”). However, the Coast Guard soon began to harshly enforce prohibition along popular rum running ports, making this illegal activity much more dangerous (“Bootlegging”). Therefore, the bootlegging industry was pushed to find sources of alcohol within American borders rather than