Prohibition was a phenomenon during the 20’s. It was not however the first campaign against alcohol, but it was by far the most successful. There had been numerous anti-alcohol campaigns during the colonial period. None of which were as successful as the national prohibition laws in the 20’s. For example in 1851 the Maine Law prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state of Maine. By 1855 thirteen other states had adopted similar laws. During the Civil War alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the union army as a way to ration

Bootlegging started when smugglers began bringing foreign liquors in to the country. The commercial made liquors came over Canadian and Mexican borders from countries such as the Bahamas, Cuba, and France. Many smugglers did not make it to the country because transportation over seas was such a high risk. Storms and ocean mishaps occurred on a regular basis. Many foreign traders did not have a good boat and many lost a lot of money. In the chance that any smugglers made it across the ocean, they had to worry about getting caught by Federal run boats and the Coast Guard. The better smugglers had money and better equipment to make things easier. (Prohibition Era 1) Many could not keep up with the rising cost. This caused many American's to run a black market, dealing with wine, beer, and moonshine. (Prohibition Era 2)

You would think that alcohol would not be easy to come by because it was illegal, but it was actually very easy to obtain. One businessman said that during prohibition there were many more places to drink than there ever were before (Thorton). The bootlegging business was so big. Customers could easily obtain alcohol by simply walking down almost any street. Illegal speak-easies replaced the saloons when they were all shut down. These businesses were hidden in basements, office buildings, and anywhere that could be found. They only admitted those with membership cards. They also 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).

On January 16, 1920, one of the personal customs of most Americans suddenly came to a stop. The Eighteenth Amendment went into effect and all importing, exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of intoxicating liquor had to end. The use of alcohol for medicinal and sacramental purposes was allowed, but this act also set up guidelines of its own (Bowen, 154). Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol, seen by some as the devil’s advocate, and by this to reduce crime, poverty, death rates, and improve the economy and the quality of life. National prohibition of alcohol, the ‘noble experiment’, was undertaken to have less crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America (Thorton). This, however, was undoubtedly to no avail. The Prohibition amendment of the 1920s backfired because it was unenforceable, it caused the explosive growth of crime, and it increased the amount of alcohol consumption.

Prohibition was supposed to be an economic and moral bonanza. Prisons and poorhouses were to be emptied, taxes cut, and social problems eliminated. Productivity was supposed to increase and absenteeism was to disappear. The economy was to begin a never-ending boom. That outlook was shattered by the stock market crash of 1929. Prohibition did not improve productivity or reduce absenteeism.

Large cities were the main location for organized gangs. There were over a half dozen powerful gangs in New York, but Chicago was the capital of racketeers. The most powerful and infamous bootlegger in Chicago was Al Capone. One of the most famous gangster killings in history occurred on Valentines Day 1929. Capone organized the murder of Bugs Morgan over a business difference. He set up a delivery of alcohol to Morgan’s warehouse with his henchmen disguised as police officers. They raided the delivery and killed everyone in the room. This is a good example of how prohibition fueled organized crime (Bowen, 175).

With only 1,550 federal agents and over 18,700 miles of unpoliceable coastline (Wenburn, 234), it was near impossible to stop the immense quantities of liquor from entering the country (Behr, 162). Barely five percent of smuggled liquor was stopped from coming into the country during this era. The illegal liquor business fe

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