Prohibition, and its Effects on Chicagoans, and Organized Crime
The illegalization of                alcohol (consumption and manufacture) was passed into law at a national                level in 1919 and enacted in 1920. Often historians regard Prohibition as the culmination,                perhaps the over-extension, of the efforts at social change which                thrived during the era. Indeed, because of the many important social                policies determined, the period of American history from 1865 until                1920 is often called the "Progressive Era." During the                period, unions expanded greatly, a number of basic labor rights                were secured, including a minimum working age, and women gained the                right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment (1920). Ironically,                at the same time that America was pushing forward its own social                policy with a number of progressive, forward-looking policies, the                first Red Scare ended up in the jailing of tens of thousands of innocent                people. The government played an official hand in the chaos, coordinating                raids across the country.
A                      Prohibition Party political cartoon (Kerr) .
Before                    Prohibition became national law, there were previous attempts                    at imposing "dryness" upon Americans. A national political                    party, aptly named the Prohibition Party, was formed on the                    basis of its "dry" stance in the 1869. From 1873 to                    1874, a large coalition of women led the "Woman's Crusade," a movement which sought the destruction of liquor and the closure                    of saloons through direct actions, primarily petition campaigns                    and demonstrations. Later, a number of civic groups formed to                    organize the prohibition effort. The most well-known of these                    is the Anti-Saloon League, which had offices throughout the                    States and worked closely with churches to push forward the                    movement.
An                      Anti-Saloon League Banner (Kerr) .
One of the most outspoken                rivals of Prohibition was Percy Andreae, who organized a saloon-backed                campaign against the illegalization of liquor. Andreae reveals the                connection between religious interests and the political motivations                of the Prohibitionists, demanding that the Prohibition movement                was largely the result of religious forces attaching themselves                to a policy fad to spread their ideals. He writes:
"Prohibition is                merely the title of the movement. Its real purpose is of a religious,                sectarian character, and this applies not only to the movement in                America, but to the same movement in England, a fact which, strangely                enough, has rarely, if at all, been recognized by those who have                dealt with the question in the public press.
If there is any one who                doubts the truth of this statement, let me put this to him: How                many Roman Catholics are prohibitionists? How many Jews, the most                temperate race on earth, are to be found in the ranks of prohibition?                Or Lutherans? Or German Protestants generally? What is the proportion                of Episcopalians to that of Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians,                and the like, in the active prohibition army? The answer to these                questions will, I venture to say, prove conclusively the assertion                that the fight for prohibition is synonymous with the fight of a                certain religious sect, or group of religious sects, for the supremacy                of its ideas. In England it is the Nonconformists, which is in that                country the generic name for the same sects, who are fighting the                fight, and the suppression of liquor there is no more the ultimate                end they have in view than it is here in America. It is the fads                and restrictions that are part and parcel of their lugubrious notion                of Godworship which they eventually hope to impose upon the rest                of humanity; a Sunday without a smile, no games, no recreation,                no pleasures, no music, card-playing tabooed, dancing anathematized,                the beauties of art decried as impure-in short, this world reduced                to a barren, forbidding wilderness in which we, its inhabitants,                are to pass our time contemplating the joys of the next. Rather                problematical joys, by the way, if we are to suppose we shall worship                God in the next world in the same somber way as we are called upon                by these worthies to do in this" (Andreae,                10) .
It was with the American declaration of war in 1917  that the Prohibitionists                got the  push in support necessary to enact the Volstead Act at a national level. The seriousness of the war seemed                to demand a nation with a singularly serious mind, and so the prohibitionists                propagandized around the war, inventing slogans like, "Sober                soldiers and factory hands are better soldiers and factory hands" (Allsop, 28) . A few years after the U.S. began its involvement in World War I,                the Amendment passed. In the Senate the Amendment passed after only                13 hours of debate, and in the House it passed  after only one                day (Allsop, 28) .
A cartoon criticizing Chicago politicians for their corruption (Kerr) .
A                      stamp commemorating the Prohibition Era (Citation) .
Prohibition did create                a huge drop-off in consumption in its first few years (see this                external website for a graph on alcohol consumption), despite claims that it was                the "most alcoholic period in American history" (Allsop,                25) . However, very quickly after this drop, as we can see, the                amount of consumption began to rise.
The rise was likely caused                by the proliferation of illegal ("bootlegged") alcohol.                Bootlegging, interestingly, began before Prohibition, and actually                continued after it, as a means of bypassing high taxes on alcohol.                Without tax, bootleg liquor was sold much cheaper than legal alcohol.                By 1930, bootlegging was much more efficiently organized, thanks                to criminals who turned the operations into a full-fledged illicit                industry. By that year, it was estimated that 10,000 speakeasies                were operating (Allsop, 33) . In                Chicago, hundreds of bars that were supposed to close simply stayed                open after Prohibition became law. There were innumerable "blind                pigs," bars and saloons with blank fronts (unmarked with any                indication of their function), through which one entered a side                door, often fitted with a peep hole (Allsop,                28) . A gentleman's magazine at the time featured an article                on bootlegging, and had this to say, "The sale of dissipation                is not only a great business; it is among the few greatest businesses                of Chicago. The leading branch of it ... is the sale of alcoholic                liquor.... The liquor interests are vastly more extended in Chicago                that any other [city]. There are 7,300 licensed liquor sellers in                Chicago, and in addition about a thousand places where liquor is                sold illegally. The only business which approaches it in number                of establishments ... is the grocery trade, which has about 5,200.                The city spends at least half as much for what it drinks as for                what it eats..." (Turner, 576) .
Great Lakes Brewing Company's "Elliot                      Ness" amber lager (Citation)
The reason bootlegged                      liquor stayed so prominent was simple: it turned an enormous                      profit; the cost of manufacture was nil compared to the amount                      that could be made from selling it. In one year during Prohibition,                      it was estimated that professional bootleggers made about                      $4,000,000,000 (Allsop, 33) .                      A few clever bootleggers convinced doctors to write them prescriptions                      for alcohol (medicinal use was not illegalized by the Volstead                      Act), finding that many druggists took a prescription as a                      ticket for unlimited purchase (Allsop,                      34) .
 
 
 
Ultimately, it was largely                the harsh enforcement of Prohibition which led many to ultimately                reject it - the defenders of the movement seem to have become far                too fervent in their dedication. For example, in 1928 Fred Palm                of Lansing, Michigan was given life imprisonment for possessing                a pint of gin; in 1929 an Aurora, Illinois housewife was killed                and her husband clubbed by a deputy sheriff searching for liquor;                in 1928, an innocent insurance agent was killed during a Chicago                raid (Allsop, 36). Another example of the extremity of enforcement                is provided (ironically) through the brother of Al Capone, "Three                Gun" Hart . Nine days after his election, Roosevelt asked                Congress to amend the Volstead Act to permit brewing and sale of                beverages up to 3.2% alcohol. In February, 1933 resolutions to repeal                the amendment were passed and Prohibition came to an end.
An anti-Prohibition                        campaign poster (Citation) .