During the 19th and early 20th century alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling addiction were one of the many issues that America was encountering. In order to preserve social morals and improve crime rates, health, and the hygiene’s of Americans during the 1900 hundreds, the U.S senate proposed the eighteenth amendment in 1917. Which made the production, transportation and sale of alcohol illegal. However, the nationwide prohibition did not begin in the United States until January 1920. Prohibition caused alcohol companies to be shut down by the government, yet there was still a market for alcohol consumption and American street gangs were willing to supply it. Instead of prohibition improving America way of life, the police department and
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During the first decade of the 20th century Women played a major role in the widespread of the temperance movement, because they believe alcohol was destructive to families and marriages. “Despite the early- ninetieth – century roots of the temperance reform, the drive towards prohibition in this period mirrored the dominant themes of modernizing America which helped transform prohibition sentiment into a modern social movement.”(Pegram p.85) After the war there a lot of chaos and confusion, because of the disorder many American wanted to reinstate normalcy into the American way of life. This led many Americans to lean towards the ban of alcohol, because of the problems linked with it. “Both the 18th Amendment and the wartime prohibition act had out law “intoxicating” beverages, but neither defined what constituted an intoxicating level of alcohol. It wasn’t until October 1919 when the Volstead act, passed after ratification of the 18th amendment to establish enforcement guidelines for prohibition, adopted an arbitrary internal revenue service measurement for taxable alcohol beverages 0.5 percent as the standard for intoxicating liquor, thus prohibiting virtually alcoholic drinks. (Pegram
During the first decade of the 20th century Women played a major role in the widespread of the temperance movement, because they believe alcohol was destructive to families and marriages. “Despite the early- ninetieth – century roots of the temperance reform, the drive towards prohibition in this period mirrored the dominant themes of modernizing America which helped transform prohibition sentiment into a modern social movement.”(Pegram p.85) After the war there a lot of chaos and confusion, because of the disorder many American wanted to reinstate normalcy into the American way of life. This led many Americans to lean towards the ban of alcohol, because of the problems linked with it. “Both the 18th Amendment and the wartime prohibition act had out law “intoxicating” beverages, but neither defined what constituted an intoxicating level of alcohol. It wasn’t until October 1919 when the Volstead act, passed after ratification of the 18th amendment to establish enforcement guidelines for prohibition, adopted an arbitrary internal revenue service measurement for taxable alcohol beverages 0.5 percent as the standard for intoxicating liquor, thus prohibiting virtually alcoholic drinks. (Pegram