The Largest Drinking Game In History Essay, Research Paper
“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it
was intended to solve” (Thorton, 15). On Midnight of January 16, 1920, one
of the personal habits and customs of most Americans suddenly came to a
halt. The Eighteenth Amendment was put into effect and all importing,
exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of intoxicating liquor
was put to an end. Shortly following the enactment of the Eighteenth
Amendment, the National Prohibition Act, or the Volstead Act, as it was
called because of its author, Andrew J. Volstead, was put into effect. This
determined intoxicating liquor as anything having an alcoholic content of
anything more than 0.5 percent, overlooking alcohol used for medicinal and
sacramental purposes. This act also set up guidelines for enforcement
(Bowen, 154). Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol,
seen by some as the devil’s advocate, and thereby reduce crime, poverty,
death rates, and improve the economy and the quality of life. “National
prohibition of alcohol — the ‘noble experiment’ — was undertaken to reduce
crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created
by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America”
(Thorton, 1). This, however, was of no benefit. The Prohibition
amendment of the 1920s was ineffective because it was unenforceable, it
caused the explosive growth of crime, and it increased the amount of alcohol
consumption.
“It is impossible to tell whether prohibition is a good thing or a bad thing.
It has never been enforced in this country” (LaGuardia). After the Volstead
Act was put into place to determine specific laws and methods of
enforcement, the Federal Prohibition Bureau was formulated in order to see
that the Volstead Act was enforced. However, these laws were flagrantly
violated by bootleggers and commoners alike. Bootleggers smuggled liquor
from oversees and Canada, stole it from government warehouses, and
produced their own. Many people hid their liquor in hip flasks, false books,
hollow canes, and anything else they could find (Bowen, 159). There were
also illegal speak-easies which replaced saloons after the start of prohibition.
By 1925, there were over 100,000 speak-easies in New York City alone
(Bowen, 160). As good as the ideal sounded, “…prohibition was far easier to
proclaim than to enforce” (Wenburn, 234). With only 1,550 federal agents
and over 18,700 miles of (Bowen, 166) “vast and virtually unpoliceable
coastline” (Wenburn, 234), “it was clearly impossible to prevent immense
quantities of liquor from entering the country” (Behr, 162). Barely five
percent of smuggled liquor was hindered from coming into the country in
the 1920s. Furthermore, the illegal liquor business fell under the control of
organized gangs, which overpowered most of the authorities (Wenburn,
234). Many bootleggers secured their business by bribing the authorities,
namely federal agents and persons of high political status (Bowen, 160). John
Hancock, one of the many curropt political figures, used to be a smuggler
himself. “No one who is intellectually honest will deny that there has not yet
been effective nationwide enforcement” (Behr, 161).
As a result of the lack of enforcement of the Prohibition Act and the
creation of an illegal industry an increase in crime transpired. The
Prohibitionists hoped that the Volstead Act would decrease drunkenness in
America and thereby decrease the crime rate, especially in large cities.
Although towards the beginning of Prohibition this purpose seemed to be
fulfilled, the crime rate soon skyrocketed to nearly twice that of the pre-
prohibition period. In large cities the homicide went from 5.6 (per 100,000
population) in the pre-prohibition period, to nearly 10 (per 100,000
population) during prohibition, nearly a 78 percent increase. Serious crimes,
such as homicides, assault, and battery, increased nearly 13 percent, while
other crimes involving victims increased nine percent. Many supporters of
prohibition argued that the crime rate decreased. This is true if one is
examining only minor crimes, such as swearing, mischief, and vagrancy, which
did in fact decrease due to prohibition. The major crimes, however, such as
homicides, and burglaries, increased 24 percent between 1920 and 1921. In
addition, the number of federal convicts over the course of the prohibition
period increased 561 percent. The crime rate increased because “prohibition
destroyed legal jobs, created black-market violence, diverted resources from
enforcement of other laws, and increased prices people had to pay for
prohibited goods” (Thorton, 10).
The contributing factor to the sudden increase of felonies was the
organization of crime, especially in large cities. Because liquor was no
longer legally available, the public turned to gangsters who readily took on
the bootlegging industry and supplied them with liquor. On account of the
industry being so profitable, more gangsters became involved in the money-
making business. Crime became so organized because “criminal groups
organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against
victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol” (Thorton, 13). As a result of
the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much rival
between gangs. The profit motive caused over four hundred gang related
murders a year in Chicago alone (Bowen, 175).
Incidentally, large cities were the main location for organized gangs.
Although there were over a half dozen powerful gangs in New York,
Chicago was the capital of racketeers, including Johnny Torrio, “Bugs
Moran”, the Gennas, and the O’Banions (Behr, 192). The most powerful and
infamous bootlegger however, was Al Capone, operating out of Chicago.
One of the most gruesome and remembered gangster shoot-outs of all time
occurred on Valentine’s Day, 1929. Because of business differences, Capone
had his henchman, “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn plot the murder of the
O’Banions, led by Bugs Moran. McGurn staged a delivery of alcohol to
Moran at a warehouse and had his gang members impersonate police
officers and pretend to raid the transaction. With a sweep of machine gun
fire, McGurn killed all that were inside. Capone had a solid alibi, being in
Miami at the time, and no convictions were ever made. This event is an
example of how prohibition fueled gang warfare and increased the crime rate
in America (Bowen, 175). The organized crime alone that prohibition created
is enough to say that it was a failure, as well as damaging to the people and
society it was supposed to help.
“Seldom has law been more flagrantly violated. Not only did Americans
continue to manufacture, barter, and possess alcohol; they drank more of it”
(Bowen, 154). The Americans that supported the law of prohibition argued
that if drinking was not allowed, then Americans would drink less. Although
the consumption of alcohol fell immediately after the beginning of prohibition,
there was a subsequent increase after less than a year. After the start of
prohibition, because manufacturing and importing alcohol were illegal, people
needed to find ways to avoid being caught. Because beer had to be transported
in large quantities, which became difficult, the price of beer went up and so
Americans began to drink less of it. Instead, they began to drink more hard
liquor, which was more concentrated and easier to transport and therefore less
expensive. Because of prohibition, Americans began to drink more potent
drinks and so became more drunk by drinking less. Another downfall of
prohibition was that confiscated booze were analyzed in New York, of that
ninety- eight percent contained poisons. Deaths from poisoned liquor rose from
1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925.
Although one would think that prohibition would enhance the difficulty
obtaining alcohol, liquor was actually very easy to acquire. The bootlegging
business was so enormous that customers could easily obtain alcohol by
simply walking down almost any street. Replacing saloons, which were all
shut down at the start of prohibition, were illegal speak-easies. These
businesses, hidden in basements, office buildings, and anywhere that could
be found, admitted only those with membership cards, and had the most
modern alarm systems to avoid being shut down. “There were twice as many
speak-easies in Rochester, New York, as saloons closed by Prohibition”
(Thorton, 6). Bootleggers, having very profitable businesses (one bootlegger
was worth more than five million dollars), either illegally imported liquor,
stole it from government warehouses, or made their own, making it readily
available to customers (Bowen 170). Many home products were sold to
those customers who wanted small quantities of alcohol. Vine-Glo, a type of
grape juice, turned into wine (15 percent alcohol) after sixty days of
fermentation. Wort, or near beer, was legally produced because it had less
than 0.5 percent alcohol. When added to yeast, this product quickly turned
into beer. Alcohol used for medicinal purposes, prescribed by a doctor, was
also technically legal. There were restrictions, such as only one pint was
allowed per person in a ten day period, but these rules were blatantly ignored
(Bowen, 164). The sales of medicinal alcohol, which was 95 percent pure
alcohol, increased 400 percent between 1923 and 1931. Another factor that
proves the increase of alcohol consumption is the increase in deaths and
drunkenness. The drop in alcohol related deaths before prohibition quickly
rose during prohibition. Arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct
increased 41 percent, while arrests for drunk driving increased 81 percent
during prohibition (Thorton, 7). How was president Harding so blind to have
not seen these problems arising in front of him?
“The results of the experiment [prohibition] are clear: …organized crime
grew into an empire; …disrespect for the law grew; and the per capita
consumption of the prohibited substance — alcohol — increased
dramatically” (McWilliams). It is obvious that this “noble experiment” was
not so noble but rather a miserable failure on all accounts. Reasonable
measures were not taken to enforce the laws and so they were practically
ignored. People carelessly violated the law, drinking more of the substance
that was originally prohibited. The problems prohibition intended to solve,
such as crime, grew worse and they never returned to their pre-prohibition
levels. Not only was prohibition ineffective, it was also damaging to the
people and society it was meant to help. Prohibition should not have gone on
for the thirteen years it was allowed to damage society.
1. Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New
York: Arcade Publishing, 1996.
2. Bowen, Ezra, ed. This Fabulous Century. 6 vols. New York: Time Life
Books, 1969.
3. LaGuardia, Fiorella H. “American Prohibition in the 1920s.” 1926.
Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998.
4. McWilliams, Peter. “Prohibition: A Lesson in the Futility (and Danger) of
Prohibiting.” Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998.
5. Thorton, Mark. “Policy Analysis: Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure.”
July 17, 1991. Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998.
6. Wenburn, Neil. The USA: A Chronicle of Pictures. New York:
Smithmark Publishers Inc., 1991.