Organized Crime: The Role Of Prohibition In The United States

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The prohibition was all started due to the Volstead Act, which was passed in 1917. This act was followed by the 18th amendment, which was to be implemented to the United States Constitution, which after it was ratified in 1919; it established The National Prohibition of alcoholic beverages. In fact, it would prohibit the manufacture, sale, transportation, importation, or exportation of alcohol in the United States. By January 16, 1920, the 18th Amendment was put into full effect and Federal Prohibition agents were given the task of enforcing the law. Despite the early signs of success, such as a decline in arrests for drunkenness and a 30 percent drop in alcohol consumption, the opposite of what was expected, actually happened. Organized crime started to rise exponentially along with the amount of active bootleggers, which caused an overall rise in crime entirely, as well as, corruption, so was the Prohibition worth it? …show more content…
The consumers bought bootlegged liquor to avoid the high taxes on alcohol. This allowed for bar owners to buy cheaper alcohol, which in turn allowed people to drink more for far less money. Due to Prohibition, by about 1930, bootlegging was much more efficiently organized, an estimated 10,000 speakeasies were operating in Chicago and the hundreds of bars that were supposed to close, simply stayed open after Prohibition became law. There were several places to go to drink during Prohibition, which included bars, saloons, and speakeasies with blank fronts, where costumers entered through a side door, often fitted with a peephole. This was done so that there was no indication that it was operating at the

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