The prohibition

Introduction

This term refers to the period fom 1920 to 1933 during which the sale,manufacure and transportation of alcohol were banned throughout the USA as provided in the 18th Amendment to the US constitution following the prohibiton of alcohol in some states. The period in between the two world wars in the wold are called the « Roaring Twenties ». This is a time defined by big changes in the american society. After the traumatism caused by the war, people wanted to have fun and tried to forget violence. It is the beginning of the Charleston and Jazz. The production of manufatured goods increased rapidly and the USA became a mass-consumption society. This growth was soon interrupted by the 29 wall street krack. In a first part, I will present the origins of the law, and in a second part, I will describe the consequences of the Prohibition for the American society as well as for economy. Then I will talk about the repeal of the Prohibition. And to finish, I will present you the 2 major characters of this period :the gangster Al Capone and the chief of the prohibition agents Eliot Ness.

I)The origins of the law

After the American Revolution, alcohol drinking was on the rise. To fight this, many Protestant Temperance movements attempted to dissuade people from being intoxicated. Alcohol was considered one the of society’s ill, espacially crime and murder. Saloons in the West were known as debauchery places where men spent a long time neglecting their families. According to Temperance movements, banning alcohol would prevent accidents in the work place caused by workers who drank during lunch. By 1916, over half of the US states already had statutes that prohibited alcohol.

On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amandment of the US Constitution was ratified and the Volstead Act passed October 28,1919.
Prohibition legally began on January 16 1920 when the 18th Amendment went into effect.

Although it was highly