“The Constitution does not give Congress the right to tell people what they may eat or drink,” ( Hakim 25). But in 1920 it did. The 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Many people believed drinking led to crime, wife and child abuse, accidents on the job, and empty wallets. Also, Christian women considered it a sin to drink. With the push from these groups alcohol was banned. As a result of Prohibition, speakeasies were made, bootleggers and gangsters became powerful, and eventually the 21st Amendment was made.
“Psst, psst, psst, psst, psst, psst, psst,” sounds like a speakeasy. “Speakeasies” were called speakeasies because they “spoke easily” about things, mainly liquor, because they didn’t want to get caught and arrested. By 1933, there were more than 200,000 speakeasies in the United States. Since liquor was illegal then, speakeasies hid liquor illegally in hidden saloons and nightclubs. However, you wouldn’t just find a speakeasy, go into a club, and ask for liquor. Speakeasies had passwords so whoever wanted liquor would need to know the password. This process of hidden drinking made drinking more fashionable and eventually led to more drinking by men and women.
Bootleggers and gangsters were taking over the activity of selling alcohol. Bootleggers and gangsters were increasing and were more common than speakeasies. Bootleggers smuggled alcohol from outside of the United States, mainly from Canada and Mexico Bootleggers would hide alcohol in their boots or just tie it around their leg. Also, ships that were running whiskey from foreign suppliers to coastal ports were called “rumrunners”. However, gangsters started to take control of the bootlegging and liquor smuggling business. Al Capone was the most infamous gangsters. He was the only gangster that made loads of dollars selling liquor. He made millions of money,and didn’t want that to stop, so he would kill the competition.
After the crime increased, as a result of prohibition, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment. “No one expected it, but Prohibition made crime a big business in the United States,” (28). People needed another amendment to get rid of the 18th Amendment and all the trouble it caused. People experienced that some kinds of prohibition should be done by persuasion and education instead of just law enforcement. The 21st Amendment was passed in December of 1933. Prohibition had ended as a well-meaning experiment, which had failed.
The 18th Amendment affected the United States by having crime, increase and created speakeasies, and gangsters. Prohibition made Americans do illegal things by making it illegal to drink alcohol, instead of helping the United States. The 18th Amendment was a failed experience, but can help us make better decisions later in life. Instead of forcing things, we should persuade and educate people on how to do the right things.
