Progressive Goals and Prohibition

Written for my American History 2 Class in College (AMH 1020):

“Did Prohibition achieve Progressive goals?”

While Progressivism was initially popular with the majority of the American public in the early 1900s, Prohibition was a Progressive measure that did not achieve Progressive goals and created more social problems than it cured. Prohibition’s goals were simple: prohibit the sale and manufacture of alcohol and thus eliminate the root of all the problems in society (Murrin et al., 829). Prohibition, in all actuality, had the opposite effect on American society. The effects of Prohibition were felt throughout the United States when the 18th Amendment went into effect on January 1920. Jobs were lost and thousands of people protested against Prohibition by turning to illegally run speakeasies or bars and other facilities that sold and produced alcohol. Alcohol sales became an illegal and highly profitable business that generated millions of dollars and helped to create an underworld of illegal activities and wealthy, powerful crime lords such as Al Capone. Federal agencies were short staffed and were unable to control illegal alcohol sales. Rival mobsters fought each other in the streets of almost every major American city, including Chicago and New York City, for control of the underground alcohol sales. Because of the amount of foreign-born immigrants that took part in the crime movement, racism and religious tension ran high as riots broke out amongst the Protestants, Catholics, Irish, and Jewish peoples. Although Prohibition sought to control the so called “evils” of society by removing its supposed root, it ultimately failed to meet Progressive goals and instead created more social problems that carried on well into the Great Depression.

To further examine Prohibition, one must first understand the force that gave life to Prohibition. Progressivism was a social and political movement that occurred as early as 1900 and carried well into the 1920s. Progressivism sought to place government in control of solving social problems relating to capitalism (Murrin et al., 711). Progressives used morality as a method of persuasion and formed collective organizations such as Anti-Saloon to help promote and enforce their ideals of a society free of problems and a government that helped solve and maintain a utopian way of life. Progressives focused on local change and it was at the local level that almost all Progressive activists sought to change their society (Murrin et al., 713). Prohibition was an ideal that was created by Progressivism and a desire to see social problems destroyed forever by removing the root of all of them: alcohol. The Progressives reached the conclusion that alcohol was the root of all social unrest by observing the working class. Most of the problems in middle class and lower class society were due to alcohol or so the Progressives rationalized. By removing this factor from the social equation, society would be cured of most of its problems.

Progressivism, although a popular social movement, came to an end in 1920 due to women achieving the right to vote, restraints that were being placed on civil liberties, and World War I (Murrin et al., 744-745, 805-811, 814-816). The United States began to experience a political shift to the “right” and thus began to look at things differently. Although Progressivism died, a few of its ideals lived on in one form or another. Prohibition was perhaps the biggest of those Progressive ideals that survived the fall of Progressivism. Prohibition had gained popularity over the years since its introduction in the early 1900s. Prohibition had become popular amongst the urban poor, feminists, farmers, and others who had seen the first hand effects of alcoholism. Organizations such as the WCTU, Anti-Saloon, Settlement House Workers, and Protestant Local Women’s Club supported Prohibition and lobbied in its favor (Murrin et al., 829-830). With a large voter base backing it, Prohibition went into effect on January 1920 with the passing of the 18th Amendment (Murrin et al., A-17).

Several laws and acts came into effect to help enforce Prohibition. Prohibition ‘s first major law was the Volstead Act that was passed in 1919 and enforced Prohibition (Murrin et al., 797). Prohibition outlawed the sale, manufacture, and distribution of alcohol and through the Volstead Act it was enforced. Prohibition laws were enforced by the law enforcement agencies such as the FBI who conducted raids on speakeasies, moonshines, and mobster compounds. By targeting people such as Al Capone, the FBI hoped to stop the flow of illegal alcohol and disrupt the growth of mobsters and underground criminal activities. Non-Progressives and bootleggers were also targets of the FBI for supporting the illegal crime industry that sprung up in Prohibition’s wake (Murrin et al., 830). The laws of Prohibition were difficult to enforce and thus mostly ineffective because of several factors. The FBI had only 1,500 personnel to help stop the illegal alcohol trade and were too short staffed to effectively do so. The border between Canada and the United States also had to be watched carefully because alcohol was not outlawed in Canada and people called “hoochrunners” were bringing alcohol back to the United States from Canada. Bootleggers were using easily concealable containers and distillers to maintain a steady supply of alcohol (Drawing). Criminal activity was not organized and thus was hard to track down and stop. It was these factors that ultimately lead to the repeal of Prohibition and its failure to meet Progressive goals.

The Great Depression occurred in 1929 and signaled the end of the Roaring Twenties. Millions of people lost their jobs and public morality plummeted. Billions of dollars vanished overnight and people turned to the government once more for social and economical salvation. Franklin Roosevelt heard the American public’s outcry for help and proposed to Congress that they repel Prohibition and thereby create more jobs (Murrin et al., 856). In 1933, Prohibition was repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment (Murrin et al., A-21). Because Prohibition had failed to cure social unrest and was poorly enforced, it came to end during the Great Depression when both jobs and the bottle were so greatly desired and needed by an ailing American public.

Progressive goals were lofty ideals that a politically minded America accepted and sought to utilize to destroy all social problems and unrest. Prohibition was one such Progressive ideal that got put into effect by the government on January 1920 with the passing of the 18th Amendment (Murrin et al., 829). Prohibition’s removal of alcohol from American society did not meet Progressive goals because it ultimately created more social problems instead of eliminating them all together. Underworld crime swept the nation and gave rise to an era of crime lords and mob warfare. During the Great Depression, America began to see the social unrest that Prohibition had caused. The government saw that Prohibition had failed and repealed the 18th Amendment with the ratification of the 21st Amendment (Murrin et al., A-21). This brought Prohibition to an end and the government then focused on repairing the financial damage and social chaos that Prohibition had caused. Having failed to meet the high standards of Progressivism, Prohibition soon faded away from view and became another part of American history.