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Why did Prohibition fail? (Lack of popular support (People started making…
Why did Prohibition fail?
Corruption
It included from Prohibition agents to juges and local and state goverment officials.
Bribes were high, and once taken gangsters took control over officials.
'Rackets' like protection and prostitution runned without interference from police nad courts.
George Remus, the 'king of bootleggers', thousands of $ to top goverment officials for protection from prosecution.
Even some of precident Harding's advisers were involved.
Organised crime
Activity and power of gangs increas, with
huge profit in Booze
Gangsters were making $2 billion a year.
Violence between gangs increase, fighting over power and control.
They would murder the opposition and hijack each others alcohol supplies.
In 1926 and 1927, there were 130 gangland murderers in Chicago. No one convicted
By the end of the decade, only most powerful survived.
Gangsters used cars and thompson sub-machine guns to run trade successfully.
Bought it way into Goverment, big businesses and trade union.
Lack of popular support
Many thought there was not much wrong in people having a drink.
Many were easily bribed and coruped.
This difficulted enforcement.
Violence, crime and deaths increased rapidly in the USA because of Prohibition.
People started making illigal liquor at home. Known as 'moonshine'.
This was often deadly and coused serious poisoning or blindness
Deaths from alcoholic poisoning went up from 98 in 1920 to 760 in 1926.
1930, 282,122 illicit stills were seized gov. agents.
Problems of enforcement.
To stop the trade, prohibition Bureau (FBI) emplyed 1500-2300 agents.
These were badly paid, and some were being taken to work in chauffer-driven cars.
1 in 12 agents were shacked for taking bribes.
Corruped system
Gangsters were 'protected', Never brought into justice.
Big business
These got quickly involved in illigal liquor trade by noticing the
high profit.
Joseph Kennedy
, father of future president, made a great deal of the Kennedy fortune in illigal liquor trade.
'Bootleggers' brought illigal liquor to the city
Rum was smuggled from the West Indies
Whisky crossed the river to Detroit from Canada.