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The 1920s dawned with the knowledge that World War I, the “war to end all wars,” had finally ended. The signing of the armistice enhanced Americans’ confidence in themselves and their country. The original postwar dullness was replaced by exuberance and an optimistic belief that the modern age offered too many thrills and too much success for the skepticism of the postwar attitude to continue. Contemporary culture evolved into a breaking down of old barriers. America was on the verge of the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition The jump-start of this era came on January 16, 1920. One of the personal habits and customs of most Americans suddenly came to a halt. The Eighteenth Amendment was put into effect and all importing, exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of liquor was put to an end. This determined anything having an alcoholic content of anything more than 0.5 percent, omitting alcohol used for medicinal and sacramental purposes. This act also set up guidelines for enforcement. Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol, seen by some as the devil’s advocate, and in doing so reduce crime, poverty, death rates, and improve the economy and the quality of life. However, this was certainly to no advantage. The Prohibition amendment of the 1920s was ineffective because it was unenforceable, it caused the explosive growth of crime, and it increased the amount of alcohol consumption. Organized Crime This was the Golden Age of the mob, which prior to Prohibition was limited to rackets, extortion, prostitution, and infiltration of labor unions. Prohibition provided a demand for an illegal service that was too lucrative to pass by. The money earned from the distribution and sale of liquor into the United States provided the finance for the mob to become an undetectable force in our modern economics today. Smaller bootleggers and distributors were "squeezed" out one by one in this uncontrollable age of the Tommy gun. Gang wars caused by territorial disputes spilled out onto urban streets and soon the nation began to quietly think that this "prohibition experiment" was failing.
Approximate Word count = 1316
Approximate Pages = 5.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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