Prohibition by lalagos20sproject

Prohibition 1929

Background Group Editorial Has prohibition helped or harmed America?

Close your eyes. Imagine walking down the streets of downtown Chicago. You take in the sights of different people from different places, the smells of exotic food from around the world, all coming together into one, beautiful city. And as you enjoy a nice, quiet evening stroll with your family, you are suddenly swept into the middle of a gang vs gang drive by. Bullets fly left and right as you try to get yourself and your family out to safety. You hear help coming your way from down the street, but they are a too late. The gangsters had already fled the scene, leaving you alone with the chaos and destruction left behind. Now open your eyes, and see what has become of our “alcohol free” country, the ruins of a once safe and quiet nation left from the carnage caused since the passing of Prohibition. Only for one year did it look like the 18th Amendment was going to end the use, or drinking of alcohol completely. In 1921, the first year after the Prohibition act came into action, the alcohol consumption rate decreased. However, just one year later, in 1922, the use of alcohol rate exceeded what it was merely two years prior, before the Prohibition act was ratified, and the rate keeps going up. Every year since then, the Prohibition act has failed and alcohol use goes up even more. Everyone, Al Capone and Texas Guinan especially, is laughing. Prohibition is failing the United States, it is creating more organized crime and fueling mobsters and gangsters. Gangsters

are earning a large profit off of selling bootlegged alcohol, or illegal alcohol. Gangsters are running and ruining our city. They are able to get out of trouble by paying off cops and being very secretive. Who knows, maybe you are providing them with money by buying their alcohol. Nevertheless, we could easily stop this madness by repealing the 18th Amendment, and getting rid of Prohibition. The 18th Amendment is simply not accomplishing what it was created to do. It is suppose to bring a halt to the manufacture, sale, and transportation of all alcohol in the United States. However, it hasn’t nearly done that of its expectation and should be repealed.

These people are protesting the 18th Amendment, or Prohibition. They want the amendment repealed.

Background Group Editorial Has prohibition helped or harmed America?

It hasn’t nearly done that of its expectation and should be repealed. It has had five years to “improve our society” but really all it has done is damage. For example, even though it didn’t bring a change in drinking aspects, it has made the rates of organized crime skyrocket, which is a major downfall. Not to mention that barely any of our citizens even acknowledge it’s existence, and have found several ways around it. There is really no good use for Prohibition, and it would be best if it was gone. Out of all the evils to emerge from prohibition, the rise of organized crime has been the most prominent. Local gangsters and thugs have gotten more and more bold whether it be by bullying businesses into handing over money through a combination of threats and violence. Or spilling the blood of gangsters and innocent civilians alike, without having to face the repercussions or the consequences. Because of prohibition, gangsters like the notorious Al Capone now have the opportunity to amass power to the point of gaining entire cities under their corrupt rule, able to do whatever they please, whenever. Prohibition is ruining our country and society. Besides the fact that it has supposedly “taken away” a key social aspect,

it has caused greater harm by giving gangsters a huge motivation; wealth and power. It has encouraged gangs to go beyond the law, recklessly committing countless crimes with no repercussions. Gangsters have taken away the lives of the innocent, leaving a path of havoc and destruction in their wake. All without having to deal with the wrath of justice, able to pay their way out of their messes and can walk through the streets with impunity. The law isn’t and hasn’t kept us away from liquor. The 18th Amendment is threatening the better of our society, and is harming our way of life.

These Prohibition officials are dumping out crates on crates of alcohol.

Has prohibition helped end the use of alcohol? Yes if you are only focusing on alcohol consumption which at first went down 1.2 gallons. Then went back up the next year passing the alcohol consumption two years before. But never passed the highest it was at 1910

Jonatan Aguilar

Notorious Al Capone

No one likes Al Capone unless you are apart of his gang or just kissing up so he spares you.Him and his gang go around in police costumes,raid speakeasies and line up then kill them.

Jonatan Aguilar

The Fuel To The Fire Is prohibition fueling organized crime?

By: Sarah Callanan Boom! Another gunshot, another gang fight, what is fueling this crisis? Ever since prohibition has started organized crime has been through the roof it's insanity! Gangsters and mobs earning a profit from selling alcohol, the police trying to enforce the unenforceable, and having mobsters run the city. We need to come together and either end prohibition or find a way to stop letting prohibition fuel organized crime. What is getting these gangsters money to fuel organized crime?! The answer is the basic laws of economics. Speakeasies buy alcohol from gangsters and mobsters which provides them with money to grow. They also get money from owning speakeasies. Although most people do not want to fuel organized crime because of all the lost jobs (bartender, etc.) people needed to earn money somehow and they did that buying selling alcohol. The problem with organized crime is it's so hard to stop it's like trying to stop the unstoppable. Police were constantly getting paid off by gangsters. Because of the big bucks mobsters are earning from alcohol they end up

There are many people running the cities, making cash off alcohol, using their money for the bad. These people are Al Capone,who runs liquor trade in Chicago, and Lucky luciano, Dutch Schultz, and Meyer Jansky who control the liquor trade in New York. These people would play cat and mouse with the coast guards sneaking alcohol into America. They work with rumrunners who are people who illegally import liquor, they anchor offshore and give the gangsters alcohol. Obviously most don't want to

provide gangsters money but, getting alcohol for their speakeasies was easiest and pushed from gangsters. A lot of the time in cities gang fights break out and gangsters fight for territory and power over the city. With all this information how could you not think prohibition was fueling organized crime?! We need to end prohibition, if we keep prohibition we are basically throwing money at gangsters. We are providing them with what they need to be powerful. We need to go to the government and stop this madness!

buying police forces and politicians. This is very severe because they are taking over the city. Constantly gangsters are getting away with smuggling alcohol and illegal business. This needs to stop now!

This picture shows a tactics people used to smuggle in alcohol.

Sarah Callanan

A Useless Law SHould the US repeal Prohibition? Aurora Roghair

A bone dry, alcohol free society is not actually reality; it cannot be! We, the United States, have been trying this since January 17, 1920, when we passed the 18th Amendment. This amendment prohibits the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages, but it's simply not working. Prohibition has done more bad than good, and this amendment must be repealed! It has nurtured the fire of organized crime, and a majority of our citizens are simply disregarding the law entirely. The Wets, people against prohibition, have found many ways around our law. What's the point of a law, when no one recognizes its being? It is 1925, and Prohibition has had it’s chance, but frankly, it's failed. The most shameless gangsters are emerging, involving themselves with organized crime; planned criminal activity carried out by powerful groups to their benefit, all because of a law known as Prohibition. These men have figured out the public call for liquor, and have realised the fortune available to them with illegal sales. The most infamous of them all is Al Capone, Al has already made a fortune, and by no luck. He has no conscience, if bribery and intimidation doesn't get him his way, he turns to murder. Already in his short reign of terror, there is an average of four hundred gang member deaths in Chicago per year. Long story short, without legal alcohol, crime, violence, and death will be our future. Laws like these don't permit moderation, especially towards something used socially like alcohol. Let’s say you once had a typical law abiding citizen, if you ratify the 18th amendment, by nightfall you will have lawbreakers. Our citizens have refused to obey the law, they’ve found many ways around it. We have developed a way to make our own “bathtub gin”, and we go to speakeasies, or secret drinking clubs. Lastly, (the reason for the sudden boost of crime), the law has created an increasing demand for bootleg alcohol. Bootlegging is alcohol that is either distilled illegally, or illegally smuggled into the states from Canada.

So it almost seems that the more we push for prohibition, the more liquor is available to us. In the last five years, alcohol has been legally denied to us, but has it really decreased alcohol-related problems? Have we, the citizens of the United States, not had a drop of liquor since January 17, 1920? No. The 18th Amendment has failed at doing what it was created to do, which was stopping the consumption of alcohol. At first it was fool's gold, lowering the estimated national consumption of alcohol by one and a half gallons per capita. It also appeared to provide workers more money for their family, since they weren’t spending their earnings at the saloon. However, that lasted only a short period of time, before they began spending their wages at speakeasies. As mentioned before, the organized crime rate has skyrocketed, and the number of citizens actually obeying the law is minimal. Prohibition had five years to prove it’s worth, however, it has failed and the amendment must be repealed. If gangsters are on the rise, and citizens have access to their hearts desire of alcohol, the 18th amendment is merely a facade. This has already done enough damage, and we must stop it before it gets any worse. It has to be repealed; it has done next to nothing good. It has instead given gangs an opportunity to make millions in the business of bootlegging. In fact, it hardly keeps anybody from drinking! So the real question isn’t whether to repeal the 18th amendment with an eye towards documented alcohol sales. It’s the rhetorical question of, would you rather have drunk men or drunk men with guns and an incentive to use them?

In this picture, they are loading crates of “green tomatoes” that actually contain whiskey.

Prohibition is getting beaten by organized crime, speakeasies, and gangsters in the cartoon above. -

Aurora Roghair

The Threat of Organized Crime Ever since the passing of Prohibition, the constant sound of gunfire and screaming has become almost a normal, everyday part of life...until you and your family are caught in the middle of it. Just ask the Freeman family, who were caught in the middle of a gang vs gang shootout. The unlucky family came out of the carnage with a shard of glass in anna Freeman’s eye and a bullet in her arm. Five-year-old Clyde Jr. got a bullet in the knee as well. You and anyone you know could end up like this, another victim of the horrible repercussions of organized crime. After prohibition was passed, there has lately been a massive increase in homicide rates per 100,000, due to the spike in organized crime. Because of the good business in bootlegging (the practice in which people sell illegal alcohol from out of the nation), the big time gangsters such as Al (Scarface) Capone have been able to amass a small army of followers. These followers will stop at nothing to get what the boss wants, be it money, more power, or to eliminate the competition. A famous example of the ruthlessness of organized crime is the famous Saint Valentine's day Massacre, where Capone’s chief gunner, “machine gun” Jack McGurn mowed down opposing gang members in one fell swoop. At this point, you would think that our government would put an end to this madness, but unfortunately, even the government is powerless against organized crime. Organized crime has been slowly gaining power, not only in manpower, but also in political respects as well. Al Capone himself amassed power by a mixture of payoffs, threats, and violence to acquire control of politicians, police, speakeasies, breweries, and gambling dens. Because of Capone’s toxic nature, our once beautiful city of Chicago has now earned itself the reputation of the most corrupt city in the nation. It has even gotten to the point of where one of our

Benji Zhang

city officials went to Capone to ensure the local elections went smoothly, instead of going to the local police. Because of the influx of crime, local thugs have gotten more bold. Businesses from all around are being affected by a practice of thugs and gangsters called Racketeering. Racketeering is the practice of bullying local businesses into extracting money from them using threats and violence. In order to avoid further conflict and confrontation, smaller businesses are forced to join protective associations headed by racketeers. These racketeers then virtually take control of the business by collecting any fees that he/she likes, and can regulate prices and work hours. Because of this, people like you and I are being charged extra, without us even knowing! If you don't take my word for it, take Author John Gunther’s opinion as he points out that, “A system of criminal exploitation, based on extortion, controlled by hoodlums, and decorated with icy-cold murder, has arisen in the past five or six years, to seize the ordinary Chicagoan, you and me and the man across the street, by the pocket-book if not the throat.” In conclusion, the recent spike in organized crime has become a major problem for the United States. The increase in homicide, corruption of the law, and the rise of racketeering are all products of organized crime. If we don’t do something about this ever growing monstrosity, America may never be safe and corrupt free again.

A picture of Al (Scarface) Capone

Money earned from the death and destruction created by prohibition and organized crime -Benji Zhang