On January 16th, 1920 the 18th amendment to the United States constitution came into effect. Often known as 'prohibition' the amendment made it illegal to sell liquor of any kind within the U.S.A.
It was passed as a result of campaigning by many activists, headed by religious groups and those in seats of authority in the commercial world, who believed that a sober nation would produce more. As well as these groups there was widespread support for prohibition from deeply Christian American people.
Over the next decade the people of America would witness the effects of prohibition. At the same time the authorities would face the difficulty of enforcing the new law which was to prove notoriously difficult for a number of reasons.
Any law is difficult to enforce without public respect. Although there had been widespread support for prohibition there was still a huge demand for liquor. In stark similarity to the illegal drug trade in the United Kingdom today, the demand inevitably meant that there would be some willing to take risks in order to supply. With prohibition the price of liquor was high and those who could supply it could reap huge rewards. With the huge demand and a large number of willing suppliers, the police whose job it was to enforce the law found themselves up against an immensely difficult task. In a country the size of the U.S.A. it was almost impossible to find the illegal breweries, while the borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S. coastlines are far to large to police effectively, especially with the limited means the police possessed in the 1920's.
The U.S.A. of the 1920's was very different to that of today. The gap between the rich and poor was enormous, with 1% of the population owning 50% of all wealth. The policemen were largely under paid. Because of this, when the bootleggers began to make large profits from the selling of liquor they found themselves up against a police force all too ready to turn a blind eye in return for bribes. Using illegal money the gangs could control threats to their business.
Another way the gangs controlled the authorities that could threaten them was through intimidation. Rivalry between different gangs, as a result of ethnic tension and business dealings resulted in gang members openly carrying weapons on the streets and in murders and beatings. This inevitably intimidated those in power and many decided not to interfere in the activities of the gangs. Those who could not be controlled in this way were usually bribed or eliminated. Either way the gangs made sure that no one in a position of authority could challenge them. The fear and corruption that extended up through authorities throughout the United States destroyed any chance of effectively enforcing the 18th amendment and the law in general.
Those who were still fighting the illegal sale of liquor realised that they could not prevent liquor from being distilled smuggled and supplied within the United States. They decided instead to employ an elite force of agents, known as the 'untouchables' to find the outlets for illegal liquor, the speakeasies. Their belief was that by finding and closing down the speakeasies they could restrict the supply getting through, and hopefully there would be less demand as the public would not take the risk of going to the speakeasies. The agents had problems in carrying out this mission however. The government only employed 1500 agents for the whole United States. Not nearly enough agents to find all the outlets. The greatest problem facing the agents however was their need for co-operation with the police and authorities. As mentioned earlier, the gangs had almost total control over these potential threats. When the agents had found the speakeasies they turned to these authorities in order to close them down. Through corrupted officials and police officers the gangs would get notice when a raid was planned. Before the raid the speakeasy could be abandoned and shown to be a regular shop. As a result of the corrupt actions from authorities the success rate of the agents was low and the government did not have enough faith in them to employ any more than the original 1500. With the limitations in numbers and support from the police the agents had an incredibly difficult task in forcing convictions and helping to enforce prohibition.
Through the failures of the agents the bootleggers were able to carry out their business without interference. Soon the gangsters had control of the cities they were dealing in. They brought prosperity to large sectors of the population through employment in the speakeasies and the gangs, and through the money that began to circulate because of their dealings. They became increasingly popular as prosperity continued. With such a large public backing the gang leaders, such as Al Capone could not be fought by the law, the public simply made it impossible.
When Wall Street crashed the government hoped that it might destroy the popularity of the bootleggers as public prosperity disappeared. However this presented an another opportunity for the leaders such as Al Capone to win further public support by using their substantial resources to provide for the poor and unemployed. For example, in Chicago Al Capone opened up free soup kitchens for the support. With prosperity lost the people began to turn towards the bootleggers to bring it back. While the public relied on men who owed their success to the illegal sale of liquor it was impossible to prosecute those who dealt in it without losing public support, which the government was unwilling to do. The unwillingness to act was also probably due to the small chance of success if such action was taken. The bootleggers had forged a trade so strong that the lives of thousands of Americans depended on it, and the government was content not to take action that would damage any support they might have after the crash and the beginning of the depression. This influence from the top of authority degraded the enforcement of the law by those below.
By looking at the reasons why the 18th amendment was a failure and could not be effectively enforced it can be seen quite clearly that much of the problem lay within the authorities and the time, whose corrupt action complemented the bribery and blackmail carried out by the gangs. The U.S. authorities failed to make a concerted stand against the bootleggers at the only time such action could have been effective – directly after the 18th amendment came into affect. In hindsight in can be seen that the authorities could have taken several actions that would have helped, such as paying the police force more, or doing more to turn public opinion against the bootleggers. The failure of the government and others to take these actions made it much easier for the gangs to take control and spread their influence.
Having said that it would have been difficult for even the most honest of governments to have wielded enough power to enforce what, in the opinion of many, was an unreasonable law that went against American ideals of freedom and liberty. The huge demand for liquor was a huge hurdle to overcome in order to prevent the large-scale sale of illegal liquor. This was to prove an obstacle that that the authorities racked by fear and corruption found to be unassailable. This was the foundation of all the problems faced by those who tried to enforce the 18th amendment.
Eventually, after more than a decade of organised crime, after the St Valentines day massacre had shocked the nation and after Al Capone was finally convicted and sent to jail the government and the public both realised the terrible effects of prohibition, and soon the law was abolished. The mobs and gangs disappeared. The U.S.A. had learned many lessons from the last decade and the results have had an effect on U.S. government policy ever since. The law brought forth many questions about U.S. values concerning freedom and law enforcement. But most of all it showed the U.S. and the world how easily governments can be corrupted, and the power that can be obtained by others without greater control. The lessons learnt may yet influence U.S. policy towards the huge companies within it that currently hold huge amounts of power, especially in the media and the computer industry.