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In the novel The Great Gatsby binge drinking, public drunkingness, gambling, and murder was generally accepted by the characters in the story. The main character Jay Gatsby did not even have a real profession for that he only dealt with illegal activities such as fixing the lottery and bootlegging liquor. Also in the novel there was a common disregard for the Eighteenth Amendment which banned the sale, manufacture, consumption, and distribution of liquor. The 1920's were viewed as the best times to live in American history. Everyone had money, evryone had jobs and there was no overwhelming poverty or devastatingly bad conditions to live in. Yet the 1920's are also viewed as the most corrupt decade to live in also. It was corrupt because civilians repeatedly broke the law smuggling, bootleggin and consuming liquor. The infamous mafia was created because of the 1920's prosperity in crime. Law officials were corrupt too because they generally broke the same laws the civilians did. The sports entertainment world was not the same after the truth about the 1919 World Series was revealed. And the most well-known presidential scandal ever happenned in the 1920's with Albert Fall and the Teapot Dome scandal. Now why would the Senate want to get rid of liquor in America? Well after WWI America had great antipathy towards Germany for the actions they took. So, since Germany was our main importer of liquor at that time America banned liquor in order to fulfill their German hostility. Also the senate thought stopping people form drinking would be a step toward cleaning up the American soceity. But as the years progressed the want for alcohol grew larger and larger. In 1921, 95,933 illicit distilleries, stills, still works and fermentors were seized. in 1925, the total jumped to 172,537 and up to 282,122 in 1930. In connection with these seizures, 34,175 persons were arrested in 1921; by 1925, the number had risen to 62,747 and to a high in 1928 of 75,307 (Internal Revenue, Service, 1921, 1966, 1970: 95, 6, 73).
Approximate Word count = 1279
Approximate Pages = 5.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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