Why was Prohibition introduced in the USA Essay Example

illegal the officials found it hard to enforce prohibition and to prevent immense quantities of liquor from entering America. The smuggling of alcohol in the 1920's was very hard to control in the US Their borders are with Canada and Mexico, neither of which were dry at this time. People would hide alcohol in hollowed out canes, water bottles, and canisters under jackets, tied around shins and tied around waists.The agents were poorly paid and as a result, they readily accepted bribes to compensate their low pay. These bootleggers saw a rise in gangster activity which managed to overpowered many of the authorities.

The up rise in gangster activity was due to the prohibition as it gave them a method of supply and demand. The gangster caused gangster wars as smuggling made a lot of money. Apart from bootlegging the gangs were involved in prostitution and protection rackets. Protection rackets were basically blackmail where they would ask for money in return for not smashing up the shops and businesses of the people they approached.In the 1920's there was an increase in crime.

Anyone who touched alcohol became a criminal and despite this continued. Therefore far from reducing the crime rate in the USA prohibition increased it. As all efforts were placed on enforcing prohibition so other departments began to suffer. Crimes involving gangsters were also often violent due to new inventions such as the machine gun and car. Despite having their new weapons the gangsters always sent and car full of dummy bullets to scare civilians away and then sent in the real guns.Prohibition was also being disobeyed in the countryside where they brewed something

called 'moonshine', which was extremely powerful.

It was said to make you go blind or even possibly kill you. As these areas were so remote it was often hard for the agents to find the brewing stills.Prohibition rather than protecting the innocent people from doing bad things, it caused them to break the law. This greatly affected the American society in a bad way.The 1920's was a time of great prosperity in the USA. Why did some groups not benefit from this properity?Six million families, just under half the population had an income less than $1500 a year.

Labourers and factory workers did not benefit from the boom. Their wages did go up in the 1920�s but they did not increase anything like company profits. The large companies became richer and richer however workers wages didn't increase also. Unemployment did not fall, the percentage of people unemployed in 1929 was the same as in 1920.President Hoover's belief in 'Rugged Individualism' meant these people did not receive welfare support from the government.

Agriculture also suffered a huge decline, even though it was once the primary industry of America. Farm prices fell, to the advantage of the consumer and led to widespread closure, especially in the South. Black people also didn't prosper. Segregation and racial prejudice meant that they were forced into the most badly paid jobs and given the worst education.

As there were a new type of immigrants who were Italian and other European countries. The immigrants were illiterate, weren't very educated and didn't speak the language, because of this they couldn't investment money in things such as the stock market so they were economically excluded.