Prohibition
...s an extremely ‘dry’ party, although the democrat party was divided. In the rural southern states with predominantly Protesetant populations, most democrats were dry, but in the urban, industrial northern states with large immigrant populations, the majority were wet. This political struggle between the wets and drys was aggravating the struggle between rural and urban America, between the established Protestants and immigrant Catholics and Jews. o Looking from the view of an immigrant prohibition may have appeared strange as the culture of nearly all immigrants was Catholic or Jewish and they were accustomed by their traditions to some kind of alcoholic beverage. o Salons quickly re-opened as speak-easies, supplied with liquor by bootleggers. By the late 1920’s the country had more speakeasies than it ever had salons` and though most bootleg liquor was of low quality and dangerous to health often made with gasoline or iodine millions still drank it. Prohibition had aimed to eradicate saloons. Journalist Walter Ligget, states “Washington DC had 300 bars before prohibition: now it had 700 speakeasies, supplied by 4 000 bootleggers”. Police records showed that arrests for drunkenness had trebled over the 1920’s. o Prohibition gave rise to many colourful personalities in America. Chicago’s famous gangsters included Al Capone and Jonnie Torrio who “created the model for gangland organization”. An important element in their success was their ability to work with the politics of the cities bribing and corrupting politicians, judges, prosecutors, police officers and reporters. Main consequences o Prohibition ended in 1933. o It had increased lawlessness and drinking and actually aggravated alcohol abuse. o The affiliation of corruption and organized crime, which was systemized in the 1920’s, was evident post prohibition as hist...