Prohibition In The 1920's

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time of social, cultural, and political changes, such as prohibition and organized crime. The United States Congress ratified the 18th Amendment in 1919 which prohibited the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. This was called Prohibition and went into effect in 1920. The country was supposed to be dry, meaning alcohol free. The purpose of the law was to reduce alcohol consumption and one way of doing that was to take away business licenses from those that sold it. The Volstead Act carried out the intent of the 18th Amendment. Why was the National Prohibition Act not successful? Prohibition was not successful because it created increased organized crime and sneaky behavior; it …show more content…
When the law went into effect, it was expected that the sales of clothing and household goods would flourish; rent would increase as saloons closed; and neighborhoods would improve. Economic growth was anticipated. Assumptions were made that people would find other ways to entertain themselves other than frequenting establishments that sold alcohol. As a dry Country, it would be a better place to live and the economy would prosper. This did not happen. Instead, the opposite occurred. There was a decline in various industries ranging from movie theatres, amusement parks, and clothing stores. Restaurants failed because they were not selling alcohol and making a profit off of alcohol sales. In addition, the closing of saloons, breweries and distilleries adversely affected the economy by the loss and elimination of jobs. The negative effects were snowballing. Since businesses were shutting down and profits were not recognized, other related trades began to suffer and/or cease to exist. Another effect of Prohibition was on government tax revenues. Prior to Prohibition, most states relied on excise taxes in liquor sales to fund their budgets. This is nonexistent with Prohibition as there were no excise taxes collected. Some states lost an overwhelming amount of its state’s revenue because it was originated from liquor taxes which no longer existed. “At the national level, Prohibition cost the federal government a total of $11 billion in lost tax revenue, while costing over $300 million to enforce” (Burns 1). This forced the state and federal governments to rely on funding their budgets with income tax revenue and increased taxes. The public did not support the need to increase taxes to compensate for the loss of revenue due to the prohibition

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