Prohibition was a national ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol that lasted from 1920–1933. A hotly contested issue, the "Dries" who supported Prohibition proclaimed it to be a victory for public morals and health, while "Wets" criticized the alcohol ban as an intrusion of mainly rural, Protestant ideals upon a central facet of urban, immigrant and Catholic life, as well as a loss of large amounts of tax revenue. Effective enforcement of the ban proved to be difficult, however, and led to widespread flouting of the law, as well as a massive escalation of organized crime.
Volstead Act
On October 28, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning alcohol was implemented through the Volstead Act, which went into effect on January 17, 1920. A total of 1,520 Prohibition agents from three separate federal agencies – the Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, the Treasury Department/Internal Revenue Service Bureau of Prohibition, and the Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition – were tasked with enforcing the new law. This effort lacked centralized authority, however, and many attempts to impose Prohibition were inhibited by the lack of transparency between federal and state authorities. The matter of geography presented further complications in that the valleys, mountains, lakes and swamps, as well as the extensive seaways, ports and massive borders running along Canada and Mexico, made it exceedingly difficult to stop bootleggers intent on avoiding detection.
Detroit Police with Confiscated Brewery Equipment
Enforcement of Prohibition was a major challenge throughout the 1920s due to a lack of coordination between law enforcement agencies and the difficulties of detecting and apprehending bootleggers.
While the commercial manufacture, sale and transport of alcohol was illegal, Section 29 of the Volstead Act allowed private citizens to make wine and cider from fruit, but not beer, in their homes. Up to 200 gallons per year could be produced, with some vineyards growing grapes for purported home use. In addition to this loophole, the wording of the act did not specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol. In anticipation of the ban, many people stockpiled wines and liquors during the latter part of 1919 before alcohol sales became illegal in January 1920. As Prohibition continued, people began to perceive it as illustrative of class distinctions, since it unfairly favored social elites. Working class people were enraged that their employers could dip into a cache of private stock while they were unable to afford similar indulgences.
Organized Crime
The rift between the Dries and the Wets over alcohol consumption and sales largely hinged on the long-running, historical debate over whether drinking was morally acceptable in light of the anti-social behavior that overindulgence could cause. Ironically, this dispute over ethics during the "Roaring Twenties" led to a sudden groundswell of criminal activity, with those who opposed legal alcohol sales unintentionally enabling the growth of vast criminal organizations that controlled the illegal sale and distribution of alcohol and a number of related activities including gambling and prostitution. Powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies, leading to the blanket criminal activity of racketeering, which includes bribery, extortion, loan sharking, and money laundering. Illicit alcoholic beverage industries earned an average of $3 billion per year in illegal income, none of which was taxed, and effectively transformed cities into battlegrounds between opposing bootlegging gangs.
Chicago, the largest city in Illinois and of one America’s true metropolises along with New York and Los Angeles, became a haven for Prohibition dodgers. Many of Chicago's most notorious gangsters, including Al Capone and his archenemy, Bugs Moran, made millions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales. By the end of the decade, Capone controlled all 10,000 Chicago speakeasies, illegal nightclubs where alcohol was sold, and ruled the bootlegging business from Canada to Florida. Numerous other crimes, including theft and murder, were directly linked to criminal activity in Chicago and other cities in violation of Prohibition.
Al Capone, June 1931
Alphonse "Al" Capone headed the largest criminal organization in the Chicago area during Prohibition. A colorful figure notorious for a multitude of crimes related to his illegal alcohol operation, Capone was eventually imprisoned for tax evasion in 1931.
To prevent bootleggers from using industrial ethyl alcohol to produce illegal beverages, the government ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols. Bootleggers combated this by hiring chemists who successfully renatured the alcohol to make it drinkable. In response, the Treasury Department required manufacturers to add even more deadly poisons to industrial alcohols, including Sterno (or "canned heat") and the particularly deadly methyl alcohol. As many as 10,000 people died from drinking denatured alcohol before Prohibition ended.
Jazz and Speakeasies
Prohibition had a large effect on music in the United States, specifically Jazz. Speakeasies became far more popular during the Prohibition era, partially influencing the mass migration of Jazz musicians from New Orleans to major northern cities like Chicago and New York. This movement led to a wider dispersal of Jazz, as different styles developed in different cities. Because of its popularity in speakeasies and its advancement due to the emergence of more advanced recording devices, Jazz became very popular in a short amount of time.
Jazz was also at the forefront of the minimal integration efforts of the time, as it united mostly black musicians with mostly white crowds. As the saloon began to die out, public drinking lost much of its macho association, resulting in an increased social acceptance of women drinking in the semi-public environment of a speakeasy, also known as a blind pig or a blind tiger. This new norm established women as a notable new target demographic for alcohol marketers, who sought to expand their clientele.
Repeal of Prohibition
The 18th Amendment had outlawed "intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes" but did not set a limit on alcohol content, which the Volstead Act did by establishing a limit of .5% alcohol per unit. The beer that could be legally consumed was essentially a very weak mixture. On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Volstead Act known as the Cullen-Harrison Act, allowing the manufacture and sale of light wine and "3.2 beer", referring to 3.2% alcohol content. Upon signing the amendment, Roosevelt made his famous remark: "I think this would be a good time for a beer."
On December 5, 1933, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. As Prohibition ended, some of its supporters, including industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, openly admitted its failure. In a positive epilogue, however, the overall consumption of alcohol dropped and remained below pre-Prohibition levels long after the Eighteenth Amendment ceased to be law.