Why was Prohibition Introduced & Repealed? (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
How did Prohibition Affect 1920s USA? Timeline & Summary
In the 1920s, the USA underwent a significant change known as prohibition. This was a nationwide ban on the production, sale and transportation of alcoholic drinks. The US government introduced prohibition because many people believed alcohol was causing social problems such as crime, poverty and family issues. They hoped that, by banning alcohol, society would become healthier and more law-abiding.
Prohibition didn't work out as planned. Instead of reducing alcohol consumption, it led to a rise in illegal activities like bootlegging. This is where people made and sold alcohol secretly. Gangsters like Al Capone became powerful figures by smuggling and distributing alcohol. Every city in the USA had an issue with gangs. This created a lot of violence and crime in cities across the country. Prohibition also led to corruption among law enforcement officials. Bootleggers bribed police officers to turn a blind eye to their illegal activities. This undermined the rule of law and eroded public trust in the government.
Prohibition had unintended consequences andcaused more problems than it solved. While it aimed to improve society, it instead fuelled crime, corruption and social unrest throughout the 1920s in the USA. As a result, the government repealed the act in 1933.
What was Prohibition?
Prohibition was when the production, selling and distribution of alcohol was made illegal
This was a federal law
As a result, it applied to all states in the USA
Prohibition took some time to come into law
Discussions began about prohibition in 1917
In 1919, the government passed two acts to legalise the prohibition
The 18th Amendment made the sale of alcohol illegal
The Volstead Act classified ‘alcohol’ as any drink which had over 0.5% alcohol in it
Prohibition began in 1920 and lasted until 1933
Why was Prohibition Introduced?
Reasons For Prohibition
Reason | Why did this make the government implement prohibition? |
|---|---|
Pressure from religious groups | The Methodists and Baptists did not agree with drinking alcohol. They believed that alcohol was a sin |
Pressure from temperance groups | The Anti-Saloon League (ASL) and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) campaigned for prohibition. They blamed alcohol for causing many social issues in the USA, including poverty, crime and broken marriages |
The First World War | Many German immigrants owned alcohol companies, especially breweries. The public saw buying alcohol from German immigrants as unpatriotic |
Attitudes of businessmen | Powerful industrialists like Henry Ford did not like his workers drinking. He believed it decreased efficiency and led to his workers taking sick days. Ford influenced federal politics |
Anti-immigrant feelings | Immigrant communities like the Irish, Germans and Eastern Europeans had a reputation for drinking a lot of alcohol. Support for the prohibition was linked to a dislike for these communities in the USA |
Why Did Prohibition Fail?
There were several reasons why prohibition failed including:
An increase in crime
The lack of public support
Corruption
Problems enforcing prohibition
Worked Example
Describe two problems with the policy of prohibition
[4 marks]
Answer:
One problem caused by prohibition was corruption (1). Gangsters bribed policemen, judges and local government officials to not interfere with crimes related to alcohol. This meant that prohibition increased, rather than decreased, criminal activity (1).
Another problem with prohibition was that it lacked popular support (1). Many people continued to drink alcohol in illegal speakeasies. There were around 32,000 speakeasies in New York in 1929, showing that many people were still drinking alcohol (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Ensure you make your details as specific as possible to access all 4 marks. The details of this example include the number of speakeasies.
Al Capone
Al “Scarface” Capone ran a large bootlegging, prostitution and gambling racketeering empire in Chicago, in the late 1920s
Al Capone evaded capture because:
People were too afraid to report his crimes to the police
He controlled many different ethnic gangs including the Italians, Irish, Jews and African-Americans
He intimidated and bribed all local law enforcement
Capone rigged local elections to make sure that officials he had bribed remained in power
Al Capone used violence to maintain control
The St Valentine's Day Massacre (1929) saw Capone order his men to murder seven of his rivals
Al Capone was finally arrested in 1931
He was arrested for tax evasion rather than for violent crimes that he had committed
The End of Prohibition
By the 1930s, the US government could no longer justify prohibition
Enforcing prohibition cost the US government $13.4 million
The government was losing out on $11 billion of revenue from taxing alcohol sales
US citizens’ opposition to prohibition increased
Businessmen no longer wanted prohibition due to the increase in crime
The Great Depression led to mass unemployment. Legalising alcohol production would create more jobs
Campaign groups like the Women’s Organisation for National Prohibition Reform protested for the end of prohibition. They hated the social impact of the Prohibition, especially the number of arrests
In 1933, President Roosevelt repealed the 18th Amendment
The banning of alcohol was now a state decision, rather than a federal law
This meant that the ban remained in some states and not others
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You could be given a question which asks you if mass production or prohibition brought more change to American society in the 1920s.
This is a 12-mark question that expects you to refer to these two bullet points and another factor. Ensure you write three paragraphs that:
P - Make a point about the question
E - Use evidence that supports the point that you have made
E - Explain why this evidence caused a change in US society in the 1920s. Avoid repeating the point again. Explain how this factor led to a difference from how life was like before
L - Link your explanation back to the question by stating how significant this factor was in causing a change to US society in the 1920s
Write a conclusion about which factor you think was the most importantfor causing change in US society in the 1920s. Make sure that you consider short- and long-term consequences, importance and impacts in your conclusion.
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