The Prohibition Era
The prohibition era was a time when the United States banned the production, importation, and sale of all alcoholic beverages. It was a major shift in American society, and many people believed it would improve health, behavior, and morality.
The Volstead Act
The Volstead Act, a bill that banned the production and sale of alcohol, was ratified in 1919 and was enforced beginning in January 1920. It was a part of a larger effort to limit alcohol consumption and to save grain for war production. The resulting federal law was supported by millions of Americans, including many of the nation's leading industrialists and educators.
Crime and Bootlegging
In the first few months of Prohibition, police and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BOI) agents made many arrests for violations of prohibition laws, and they found that most people who were arrested were not actually drinking the booze they were caught selling. Instead, they were engaged in other crimes.
Some of these crimes included burglary and robbery, theft, and the illegal sale of counterfeit drugs. Others involved the smuggling of contraband booze.
Bootleggers became a popular way to make money in the dry years. They established huge distribution networks and often produced tainted brews such as moonshine or bath-tub gin. Some were so skilled at their trade that they even smuggled alcohol to Congress and the Senate Office Building.
The Rise of Speakeasies
A new type of establishment also emerged during Prohibition, the speakeasy. These were small, secret bars that could only be entered with a special password. These'speakeasies' were sometimes so popular that they quickly outgrew their original location.
Speakeasies, like the bars they replaced, were a place where people socialized with friends and enjoyed a drink. However, because of their illegal nature, they became a target for the Ku Klux Klan, which was increasingly anti-immigrant and racist during the dry years.
The High Life and Public Safety
During the era, many American citizens also began to resent the lack of legal access to alcohol. This was especially true for those in the middle class, who feared losing their jobs and standing in line for bread.
The result was a widespread desire to live a "high life," where people were willing to break the law. The rise of bootleggers and the speakeasy gave people an image of a dangerous and exciting way to live during this time period.
This led to an increase in crime and the deterioration of public safety. As the number of arrests increased, courtrooms and jails grew in size, and a backlog of cases accumulated. In some areas, prosecutors turned to the "plea bargain," a plea-bargaining system in which defendants accepted prison time in exchange for pleading guilty in advance and paying fines or restitution later.
The Toll of Prohibition
The resulting deterioration of public safety caused an immense amount of suffering, with countless Americans dying each year from the effects of drinking tainted beer and liquor. In some communities, such as Pittsburgh's Slippery Rock, prohibition caused the death of over a dozen residents per month in the early 1920s.
