THE PROHIBITION ERA IN AMERICA Dec 6 th

THE PROHIBITION ERA IN AMERICA (Dec. 6 th 1919 – Dec. 5 th 1933) The most notorious period of organised crime and corruption in American History

Origins of prohibition Floods of immigrants Threats to protestant values Patriotism Ethnic conspiracy theories The Women’s Christian Temperance Union protesting against alcohol consumption

DEADLY MORAL POISON!

THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT: Giving America back her morality The evangelist- “We will turn our prisons into factories… men will walk upright now, women will smile… hell will be forever for rent’’ The Anti Saloon League- “Shake hands with Uncle Sam and board his water wagon!”

Coming into effect Dec 6 th 1919… A World War One catalyst A shortage of grain not fuelling the soldiers… BUT FUELLING PROHIBITION! A copy of the Amendment

America’s demons down the drain

Americans protesting as the laws prohibiting alcohol go into effect

Prohibition… Play ball! “The business of evading it and making a mock of it has ceased to wear any aspects of crime and become a sort of National sport” H. L. Mencken An American woman hides a flask Beneath her dress- a fashion trend During Prohibition.

The Roaring 20’s An age of extravagance and indulgence

DEMAND=SUPPLY New 1920 s slang: Alcohol: Coffin varnish White mule Monkey rum Panther sweat Rot gut Tarantula juice Wealthy, civilised adults entering a speakeasy bar Getting Drunk: Oiled Fried Tight Wet Corked Stewed Tanked Lit up like a Christmas tree

Self serving solutions (sometimes deadly) The quality of alcohol was poor and many people became sick, deaths from alcohol poisoning rose 400%

The medicinal excuse An original prescription for alcohol from the Prohibition era

Dramatic increase in arrests under the Volstead Act

The Prohibition laws created a new social climate… The new lucrative, HIGHLY PROFITABLE black market that Prohibition created effectively gave birth to A NEW BREED OF CRIME… MORE DEVELOPED, EFFICIENT AND ORGANISED THAN EVER BEFORE A crowded speakeasy Bar in the 1920’s

Sole suppliers- raised profits The profits from liquor smuggling were enormous. A Time magazine expose of 1925 tallied the dollars: “A case at Rum Row, $25 On the beach, $40 To the retail bootlegger, $50 To the consumer, $70 or $6 a bottle”

Prohibition introduces American citizens to the underworld Gangsters can easily expose Americans to… Gambling Illegal drugs Prostitution A crowded gambling house in the 1920 s

Ineffective Prohibition Agents 1920: Fewer than 1, 600 Prohibition agents in America. In New York alone well over 1, 000 speakeasies.

Formation of extensive crime syndicates Organised crime syndicates formed undercover deals and public ties with… Politicians (many helped fund illegal operations) Prohibition agents/police Judges Cartoon: Two gangsters in the 1920 s, one bragging to the other about the public Officials on his payroll

AL CAPONE A criminal mastermind

THE ORIGINAL GANGSTER Making America the inheritor of Italian mafia ideology and using force to crush rivals

Protection in style

Vital secrets to Capone’s success Force of efficiently organised, loyal gang members Widespread racketeering Bribing police, prohibition agents, judges, lawyers- spent over $75 million doing so Intimidation tactics particularly at elections Chicago Mayor ‘Big Bill Thompson’, one of Capone’s politicians, Who declared he was “As wet as the middle of the Atlantic Ocean”

The bloody business of MASS MURDER Between 1927 -1931 (the height of Prohibition) there were a recorded 277 gang murders in America AND NO CONVICTIONS

Invincibility short lived The St Valentines Day massacre Capone finally in custody

Prohibition crime statistics Arrests for… Drunkenness and disorderly conduct INCREASED 41% Drunken drivers INCREASED 81% Thefts and burglaries INCREASED 9% Homicides, assault and battery INCREASED 13%

Prohibition resulted in a societal mutation Alcohol ban Huge profits enable crime groups to become organised Legitimate businesses stop production Niche for crime groups to fill as sole providers of illegal alcohol This process resulted in the Prohibition era becoming the most notorious period of organised crime and corruption in American History

References Cochrane, J. (2000). Life in the Twenties and Thirties. London: Toucan Books Ltd. Coffey, T. M. (1976). The long thirst, prohibition in America: 1920 -1933. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd. Ferrell, R. H. (1986). The twentieth century, an almanac. London: Harrap. Himsl, S. (2004). 1920 -1940 The twentieth century. USA: Greenhaven Press. Smith, D. C. & Alba, R. D. (1979). Organised crime and American life. New York: Springer. Taylor, A. J. P. & Roberts, J. M. (1971). Purnell’s history of the twentieth century Vol Five. London: BPC Publishing Ltd. Unstead, R. J. (1973) The twenties, an illustrated history in colour. London: Macdonald and co. Williams, T. H. , Current, R. N. , Freidel, F. (1965). A history of the United States since 1865. New York: Alfred A Knopf. Woodiwiss, M. (1990). Organized crime, USA: changing perceptions from prohibition to the present day. BAAS Pamphlet No. 19. The Untouchables. (1987). Directed by Brien de Palma.

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