Miskolci Egyetem Bölcsészettudományi Kar Modern Filológiai Intézet THE WAR FOR THE SOBER AMERICA PROHIBITION IN THE UNITED STATES Készítette: Konzulens: Konyári Ádám Láng Viktória Anglisztika, BA tudományos segédmunkatárs Miskolc, 2017 Table of contents Table of contents .................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 2. The Alcoholic Republic ..................................................................................................... 6 2.1. Early times .................................................................................................................. 6 2.2. The Whiskey Ring ...................................................................................................... 6 2.2. The Comstock Law ..................................................................................................... 7 2.3. Consumption on the rise ............................................................................................. 8 2.4. Women against alcohol and the Anti-Saloon League ................................................. 8 2.5. The Eighteenth Amendment ..................................................................................... 10 2.6. The Nineteenth Amendment ..................................................................................... 11 3. The rise of the Noble Experiment .................................................................................... 12 3.1. Prohibition inside out ................................................................................................ 12 3.2. Ethnic changes and the consequences ....................................................................... 12 3.2. Organized crime and corruption ............................................................................... 13 3.3. “For the Greater Good” ............................................................................................. 15 3.4. Prohibition and the Ku Klux Klan ............................................................................ 16 4. The Fall and Aftermath .................................................................................................... 18 4.1. Freedom for every entrepreneur ................................................................................ 18 4.2. The Great Depression ............................................................................................... 18 4.3. The Twenty-First Amendment .................................................................................. 19 4.4. The Aftermath ........................................................................................................... 20 5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 21 6. Works Cited ..................................................................................................................... 22 7. Összefoglalás ................................................................................................................... 24 “I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand.” (Alphonse Gabriel Capone 1. Introduction My thesis is built upon the idea of investigating the chronology of alcohol prohibition in the United States, providing an altered perspective concerning social and political factors, criminal activity, governmental control, giving my straightforward answer for why the so-called “Noble Experiment” failed in the end. During my research my intention was to focus on the less-known history of Prohibition, with the introduction of more recent studies regarding the topic. I think Prohibition and its consequences are often mentioned only in the footnotes of the history books nowadays, but the topic deserves way more than that. However, Prohibition was a stillborn idea, we can learn from even today. The prohibition in the United States is often pointed out as one of the great missteps in the nation’s timeline. Alcohol itself has been a real part of the American culture since the beginning of the colonial era. Centuries later U.S. government yet introduced a nation-wide ban of the production and distribution of the substance. For many people liquor was a part of the everyday life, an extension of freedom the Americans fought to gain. Throughout the years the consumption of alcohol raised in the country causing the “Temperance” groups to appear alongside with the women’s rights movements. The civil activists who fought against alcohol had the common name of “Drys” and many of them believed that alcohol was generally making the world a worse place and the only solution is the absolute prohibition that would provide crime and morally questionable behavior to disappear from the face of America. The campaign of the Drys reached their ultimate goal on the 18th of December, 1918 when the National Prohibition Act passed in the United States Congress, later known as Volstead-Act. The 18th amendment was introduced by Andrew Volstead to the United States Congress. The act enabled the legislation of for the enforcement of Prohibition in the United States beginning in 1920. Ironically the triumph of the Volstead Act caused the prohibitionist movements to collapse. The demand for alcohol was still unquestionably high and there were many who were willing to operate outside the law providing illegal liquor nationwide. Some even began to store large quantities of booze even before the Volstead-Act passed to sell the stock afterwards. After 1920 alcohol became the most fruitful product for criminals and made some of them extremely wealthy and powerful. Organized crime skyrocketed and became 4 almost invincible for the authorities because of the resourceful criminals and the wide-spread corruption. Interestingly, prohibition caused some brighter social and cultural changes too. The so-called speakeasy and blind pig bars were establishments operated illegally but they were far more open for women than the bars in the days before prohibition. The era of “men only” bars came to an end. These establishments also gave a kick start to jazz music and the related culture. Nevertheless, way too many people wanted to gain some profit from the booze business and home manufacturers started to appear. The moonshiners were operating usually nighttime at some remote location, producing poor quality liquor which caused the death of thousands of people during the prohibition. Prohibition did not elevate the American society to a higher level, did not stop crime, poverty, social issues but the opposite. The era was not a black and white conflict of good versus evil, but a far more complex struggle of a nation with itself. In a little more than a decade the Volstead-Act lost its support in every layer of the American society and was finally revoked in 1933. All in all, the introduction of the Volstead Act was in fact the culmination of previous events concerning to repel alcohol consumption in the United States. The Noble Experiment had a memorable impact in the life of the American citizens. Many already-existing criminals begun new illegal activities, and many who were previously innocent become somehow involved in crime. In the end, the history of Prohibition in America is a cautionary story. Any kind of Prohibition has to be discussed in many perspectives. However, it was a complete failure its legacy still lives with the American people. In the recent years many historians and authors started to reevaluate what we thought about prohibition. In this thesis my main goal is to review the whole era of prohibition in chronological order, introduce the recent discoveries and provide my own interpretation for how the war for the sober America got lost. 5 2. The Alcoholic Republic 2.1. Early times A critical episode started for the American middle class when prohibition was introduced as a result of series efforts mostly by this particular social class. From the very beginning, hard liquors and spirits such as rum and whiskey always had a noble place in the nation’s history. Rum was a vital part in the Triangular slave trade between Africa and the Americas. Whiskey often meant the only acceptable currency for people living in the North- American wilderness. In 1791 the newly formed federal government introduced the taxation of whiskey. It was the first tax imposed on a domestic product during the presidency of George Washington. The result was the broke-out of the Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) which meant public protest against the new tax across the United States. As a result of the better economic environment in the new independent America alcohol consumption skyrocketed in the late 18th century, especially from the beginning of the 19th century. (Johnson) 2.2. The Whiskey Ring After the Civil War, the government was seeking possible sources of income for the restoration. The taxation of whiskey showed great potential, but instead of a reliable source of federal income, it became the root of corruption. The Whiskey Ring scandal broke out in 1875 in St. Louis and it became on f the major scandals in the history of the United States. It involved hundreds of individuals, storekeepers, politicians, distillers, reporters and federal agents in St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Washington D.C. The corruption