PROHIBITION
Organised crime
Big Business
Lack of public support
Profits
Association against the Prohibition Amendment
Illegal liquor
Gangsters
Saw Prohibition as the cause of violent crime wave
Bootleggers and smugglers
Brought illegal liquor supplies into the cities = big business
Rum smuggled from the West Indies
Whisky came from Canada
Blamed the amendment for the ills of society
E.g: Joseph Kennedy made most of the Kennedy fortune in this business
Great Depression
Bootlegers organised themselves into gangs to transport goods --> gangs became very powerful and rich
If alcohol was legal, it would create jobs and prosperity
Government could get taxes from alcohol if it was sold legally
Smart women in society campaigned against it
Speakeasy
Criminals
Made money by smuggling and selling alcohol
It was a basement bar behind locked doors with a peephole that sold illicit alcohol
Corruption
Problems of enforcement
It was very popular
Police were bribed to turn blind eye on illegal activity concerning alcohol
1925 --> 15,000 in Detroit
1929 --> 32,000 in New York
Power and activity of gangs increased
Huge profits in alcohol --> they made about $2 million a year from it
Rival gangs fought to provide the speakeasies with their alcohol, hijacked each others products and even murdered their opponents
Police were bribed
1926-1927 --> 130 gangland murders in Chicago and no one was convicted
Organised crime found its way into the government, businesses and trade unions
Included Prohibition Agents, judges and government officials
Low wages
Law enforcers were poorly paid
Law enforcers became controlled by gangsters
Profits from bootlegging were so great, people were willing to risk imprisonment
Alcohol was made at home in illegal stills
Home made alcohol was often deadly and caused poisoning and blindness
The rich had their alcohol delivered to their homes
Deaths from alcohol poisoning went up from 98 in 1920 to 760 in 1926
282,122 speakeasies seized by the government