Prohibition
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Causes:
Women
CRIME VIOLENCE PROSTITUTION POOR HYGIENE CORRUPTION
DOMESTIC ABUSE THEFT DEBT SOCIAL PROBLEMS
- Women's reform groups began to strongly oppose the influence of alcohol in the late 1800s, starting the temperance movement.
- The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WTCU) and the Anti-Saloon League, were created.
- They argued that alcohol caused…
CRIME VIOLENCE PROSTITUTION POOR HYGIENE CORRUPTION
DOMESTIC ABUSE THEFT DEBT SOCIAL PROBLEMS
World War I
- April 1917- The United States enters WWI on the Allied side
- August 1917- The Food Fuel and Control Act gave the government control over alcohol.
- The production of alcohol used up vital resources and workers needed to make food for America and its Allied forces during the war
"[Prohibition is]...a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose"
-Herbert Hoover, 1928
Effects:
"Wets" vs "Drys"
Organized Crime
Bootlegging
- Bootleggers started out their businesses by smuggling alcohol in from foreign countries such as Mexico, Canada, Cuba and the Bahamas.
- When the Coast Guard got involved they were forced to produce their own alcohol or "moonshine" to illegally distribute. Home made liquors were more dangerous, increased the number of alcohol related deaths in America.
- Some people also became pharmacists or church officials to get a source of alcohol to drink and sell.
Elimination of Jobs
- Employees of alcohol related businesses such as...
- Restaurants and entertainment businesses often could not make a profit because they had relied on liquor sales.
Lost Taxes
- A large percentage of state and federal government tax revenues before prohibition, were from the excise tax on liquor sales.
- The federal government lost around $11 billion in tax revenue during Prohibition