Prohibition in the 1920's Essay

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Prohibition in the 1920’s During the 1920’s there were many things that were detrimental to the country. In this era, in the United States of America, the legal drinking age is twenty-one. However, this wasn’t always the case. In the 1920’s there was no legal drinking age. In fact after the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the U.S constitution, the transportation, manufacture and sale of alcohol was prohibited by the United States; Hence the name “Prohibition”. The impact the prohibition had on the United States during the 1920’s was most detrimental because it turned the country into a chaotic scene in which there was no respect for the law. Although the government may have though it was a great idea that they put this ban on alcohol, most of the rest of the country did not. Therefore, there was a vast amount of people that still wanted alcohol. Because there was such a high demand for it, prohibition led to record high numbers of organized crime. Many knew that since people could not obtain alcohol, if they could illegally manufacture, transport, and sell liquor they would make more money than any of them could imagine. However, organized crime did not stop when prohibition was repealed in 1933. Instead, most organized crime then turned to more serious subjects such as, selling of drugs, theft, robbery, prostitution and fraud (Cohen). Organized crime sky rocketed during the 1920’s and even after that causing chaos. In events such as the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which there was a mass murder due to the rivalry of gangs in the illegal liquor trafficking business (Prohibition [United States]). People had no respect for the law and had no fear of getting caught. There were a countless number of people that took part in organized crime, although some may have been much larger contributors than others. When on the topic of prohibition it is nearly impossible to not mention the infamous name Alfonse Gabriel Capone or better known as Al Capone. Al Capone is one of the most famous gangsters to ever live. Born in Brooklyn, New York , Capone had trouble staying in school and dropped out at a very early age. As a young kid he was predisposed to a gangster by the name of Johnny Torrio who he thought of as a mentor of sort. As a result, Torrio took Capone under his wing to Chicago where Torrio had been running bootlegging businesses. However, when Torrio was shot by a rival gang member he decided to flee Chicago, thus leaving Capone in charge. Capone seemed to be better at the Business than Torrio for he was able to control mostly all of the bootlegging in Chicago, and ran more speakeasies than anyone else in the country. It is said that Capone may have made around sixty million dollars in his time of bootlegging and operating all of the speakeasies (Prohibition---History). He was also very much accountable for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which he had members of his gang kill multiple members of their rival gang as a result of the illegal trafficking of liquor (Prohibition [United States]). Capone would often use his power to buy off people of high positions to get what he wanted. Often, Capone would pay off cops and law enforcement officials to ensure he would not get caught participating in the illegal bootlegging. Also, he would frequently pay off witnesses to crimes to stay out of jail. Thus proving how many, especially Capone, did not have any respect for the law. Although he was later arrested and charged for tax evasion, and spent a long eleven years in prison for the crime. Some of which were spent in the well-known prison of Alcatraz. Al Capone may have been the best at running the bootlegging business, but there were many others. Bootlegging was what one would call it to manufacture, Transport and sell alcohol in the United States. Often instead of making the liquor
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