18th Amendment
By: Tiego V, and Kale B
What is the 18th Amendment?
The United States Constitution effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol (though not the consumption or private possession) illegal.
When was it Passed?
The ratification of the amendment was certified on January 16, 1919, but the amendment did not go into effect until January 16, 1920
Why it wasn't smart
It wasn't the smartest amendment out there because it started organized crime. This was because people didn't couldn't get there alcohol. So gangs started making secret bars were they sold alcohol illegally and since they sold alcohol illegally they thought might as well sell drugs and everything else that is illegal, and that's what they did.
Al Capone
He was one of the best mobsters in America at the time. So he started his own secret bar and in the bar he had drugs, alcohol and prostitutes. Since Al Capone was a great mobster her was wanted by most of the police force but since he was so rich he bribed every police that tried to come and arrest him. Eventually the Police force ended up figuring out what he was doing so they had to get an federal agent that wouldn't take bribes. Soon enough came Elliot Ness who eventually caught Al Capone and put him in jail for Tax Evasion.
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
Gang warfare ruled the streets of Chicago during the late 1920s, as chief gangster Al Capone sought to consolidate control by eliminating his rivals in the illegal trades of alcohol bootlegging, and gambling. This rash of gang violence reached its bloody climax in a garage on the city’s North Side on February 14, 1929, when seven men associated with the Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran, one of Capone’s longtime enemies, were shot to death by several men dressed as policemen. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it was known, was never officially linked to Capone, but he was generally considered to have been responsible for the murders.
Money spent on Alcohol
In 1930 the Prohibition Commissioner estimated that in 1919, the year before the Volstead Act became law, the average drinking American spent $17 per year on alcoholic beverages. By 1930, because enforcement diminished the supply, spending had increased to $35 per year.
Other Effects
As a result of Prohibition, the advancements of industrialization within the alcoholic beverage industry were essentially reversed. Large-scale alcohol producers were shut down, for the most part, and some individual citizens took it upon themselves to produce alcohol illegally, essentially reversing the efficiency of mass-producing and retailing alcoholic beverages. Closing the country's manufacturing plants and taverns also resulted in an economic downturn for the industry and also resulted in people losing their jobs.