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Prohibition and Progressivism

Barrels of liquor being poured out

            January 16, 1920 the taps were shut off and America became a dry country, Prohibition had begun. A nationwide ban placed on the manufacturing, sale, and transportation on one of America’s men’s favorite things, alcohol. The day before the taps went dry streets were flooded with men buying up every last drop of alcohol they could get their hands on. Liquor stores in an attempt to rid themselves of all the alcohol they could while they could still make money on its sale sold alcohol at incredible discounts. Baskets full to the brim with bottles of alcohol had signs on them reading “Everything $5.” So many Americans were absolutely devastated by the news of the ban being placed on alcohol; however at the same the time, those who had lobbied for this ban for so long were absolutely ecstatic. The sound of barrels and bottles of alcohol being emptied into drains was music to their ears. January 16, 1920 was one of the most important days in American history, the day the taps went dry.

Members of the WTCU

            Alcohol was banned in America, alcoholics wept and reformers and activists rejoiced. Among these reformers was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. This group was formed initially with the goal of making America a dry country. They, along with others, believed that the problems among American men stemmed from their use and abuse of alcohol.  These problems included gambling, fighting, beating their wives, along with countless other problems all pinned on alcohol. In the minds of these activists alcohol was the root of all the problems of men in the United States. These activists saw a ban on alcohol as the only way that America could progress and move forward. In their eyes alcohol was holding America, the men of America specifically, back from their full potential, and that they could not be good members of society while using alcohol. These activists were for the most part Christians who saw alcohol as an unholy thing for people to be consuming. These groups used speeches and conferences to promote their ideas. They used the behavior of Americans to validate their points. They also used the Bible and their Christian roots to try turn the American people away from alcohol, promising a better country without alcohol. They included both women and men; however the majority of the men joined the movement later than the women. The WTCU was eventually surpassed as the leading pressure group in America.

Alcohol being poured out

The other main group in the fight to ban alcohol was the Anti- Saloon League or the ASL. This group was led by Rev. Howard Hyde Russell originally and later Wayne B. Wheeler joined Russell after hearing him deliver a temperance lecture. Wheeler signed as one of the first full time employees of the ASL after that speech and eventually became one of the leaders along with Russell. Unlike the WTCU who became involved in other issues, Wheeler and the ASL vowed to only focus on temperance. It was when this group, the ASL, was formed when the Prohibition movement began to gain strength. After the ASL’s formation the WTCU, who had been trying for year, was able to enact local Prohibition laws in counties around America, eventually Prohibition became a national movement. The ASL was the largest, most powerful pressure group, a term coined by Wheeler himself.

The drinking culture had become so bad in America, which is why these pressure groups began to form. Men were fighting, being late for work, beating their wives, along with numerous other things deemed bad. This behavior was terrible and these groups feared that with European immigration it would only spread and worsen. One of the worst parts of this drinking culture was the saloons.

A Prohibition protest 

Saloons were formed by brewing companies attempting to remain competitive. By definition these places were retail businesses that sold beer and whiskey by the glass. However soon after their inception they began to use gambling and prostitution as ways to gain an edge on their competitors. These places became hot spots for all kinds of crime for American men. They were seen as absolutely offensive and noxious places by most of America. It was this type of behavior and places that began the Prohibition movement.

The media played a pivotal part in the movement and growth of the temperance movement in America. The American newspapers kept the public up to date with what was going on with Prohibition. They tended to focus on the things that would peak the interest of readers such as the stories of arrest and bribery. They also kept the American’s in the loop leading up to the law being passed. The media held nothing from the public; it told everything to the people. While it did focus more on the crazy, more interesting topics, it was very truthful in its information. It did not sensationalize things to make them more interesting. It just told the truth because the mere topic of Prohibition was interesting enough for Americans to pick up the paper and read. Almost every title involving Prohibition had the word Prohibition or a word very closely related to it so that the people would know it was about Prohibition. This is how the papers sold, they did not need crazy headlines to draw in readers, the truth about Prohibition was what interested the people. The media gave the people the truth about what was going on and that was all they wanted.

An article from Prohibition times

The 18^th amendment changed America drastically; however one of the biggest, most influential laws in American history was overturned just 13 years later. The ratification of the 21^st amendment may have been more shocking than that of the 18^th. The repeal came after 13 years of Prohibition. 13 years of people making their own liquor, transporting it all over, and bosses such as Al Capone coming into the picture. Prohibition did more harm than good. It created more crime, when people realized they could just buy liquor from a bootlegger they stopped caring about that law. Much like marijuana today, the law only stopped some people from drinking as it was still available. Many said that America “grew tired” of Prohibition. This makes sense when you think about how much it was to keep up enforcement of the law to little avail.

Prohibition was a huge turning point in American history. The passing of the 18^th amendment was one of the biggest events in American history, only to be overturned by 21^st amendment. The activists had a false that they had made the big step towards reaching their goal, only to be shown that they could never reach their goal of a truly dry nation. The Americans refused to give up their alcohol finding ways to get what they wanted. So many things were born out of Prohibition including NASCAR, moonshine, along with many other new things that never would have been without Prohibition. Prohibition helped America in many ways to progress it into the country it is today. It may not have had the same effect the activists who worked so hard for a dry nation had dreamed of but it certainly had positive effects for America.

             

Works Cited

"1,500 Agents Begin Dry Law Enforcement." New-York Tribune [New York, N.Y.] 17 Jan. 1920: 3. Library of Congress. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. This article contains information about the enforcement of the new law. I can use this to show how the law was enforced from a first hand account.

"New Law to Clamp Down Dry Lid Hard." The Evening Missourian [Columbia, Mo.] 29 Oct. 1919: 51. Print. This is a good primary source that shows what was going on at the time. I can use this to have a first person perspective in my paper.

Okrent, Daniel. "Wayne B. Wheeler: The Man Who Turned Off the Taps." Smithsonian. Lori Erdos, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. This source has great information on what life was like during Prohibition and leading up to it. I can use this to show why Prohibition happened in the first place and what drove America to make such an amendment.

"Prohibition Before House." El Paso Herald 2 Aug. 1917: 12. Library of Congress. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. This article is good because it is a primary source from the time when Prohibition was happening. I can use this to show what was going on in America at the time from a first person point of view.

"Roper Asks Clergy to Aid in Work of Dry Enforcement." Evening Public Ledger [Philadelphia, Pa.] 17 Jan. 1920: 1. Library of Congress. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. This source contains good information of what was really going on in this time in history. I can use this to have first hand account of what was happening with Prohibition.

"Why Prohibition." Temperance & Prohibiton. Columbus: Ohio State U, n.d. N. pag. Temperance & Prohibtions. Ohio Sate University. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. I have chosen to use this source because it gives me a good base as to what Prohibition was. It tells me why it was started and how it was passed along with the main groups involved in the movement.