Name: Banning alcohol was a bad idea
Uploaded: 2020-07-19T13:36:54.000Z
Duration: 5 min 13 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

On January 17, 1920, six armed men  robbed a Chicago freight train.

Less than one hour after spirits  had become illegal

the robbers made off with thousands  of dollars worth of whiskey.

It was a first taste of the unintended  consequences of Prohibition.

The nationwide ban on the production  and sale of alcohol in the United States

came on the heels  of a similar ban in Russia

that started as a wartime measure  during World War I.

But the view in the Western world  of alcohol

as a primary cause of social ills  was much older.

It first gained traction  during the Industrial Revolution

as new populations of workers  poured into cities

By the 19th century, anti-drinking groups called temperance movements

began to appear in the United States  and parts of Europe.

Temperance groups believed  that alcohol was the fundamental driver

behind problems like poverty  and domestic violence,

and set out to convince  governments of this.

While some simply advocated  moderate drinking,

many believed alcohol  should be banned entirely.

These movements drew support  from broad sectors of society.

Women's organizations were active  participants from the beginning,

arguing that alcohol made men neglect their families and abuse their wives.

Religious authorities,  especially Protestants,

denounced alcohol  as leading to temptation and sin.

Progressive labor activists  believed alcohol consumption

Governments weren't strangers  to the idea of prohibition, either.

In the United States and Canada,  white settlers introduced hard liquors

then blamed alcohol for disrupting  these communities—

though there were many other  destructive aspects of their interactions.

The American and Canadian governments banned the sale of alcohol

to Native populations  and on reservation land.

American temperance movements gained their first victories

with Maine and several other states  banning the sale and production of liquor

In 1919 the 18th Amendment  to the US Constitution

banned the manufacture, sale,  and transportation

The amendment took effect a year later under the Volstead Act.

Since the act did not ban  personal consumption,

wealthy people took the opportunity  to stock up while restaurants and bars

Workers lost their jobs as distilleries,  breweries, and wineries closed down.

Meanwhile, organized crime groups  rushed to meet the demand for alcohol,

establishing a lucrative black market  in producing, smuggling,

Often they worked side-by side  with corrupt policemen

even bombing the 1928 primary election for Illinois state attorney

in support of a particular  political faction.

Tens of thousands of illegal bars,  known as "speakeasies,"

They ranged from dingy basement bars  to elaborate dance-halls.

People could also make alcohol  at home for their own consumption,

or obtain it legally with a doctor's  prescription or for religious purposes.

To prevent industrial alcohol  from being consumed,

the government required manufacturers to add harmful chemicals,

leading to thousands of poisoning deaths.

We don't know exactly how much people were drinking during Prohibition

because illegal alcohol  wasn't regulated or taxed.

it was clear that Prohibition  had not brought the social improvements

Instead it contributed to political  corruption and organized crime

At one raid on an Detroit beer hall,  the local sheriff, mayor and a congressman

With the start of the Great  Depression in 1929,

the government sorely needed the tax revenue from alcohol sales,

and believed that lifting Prohibition  would stimulate the economy.

In 1933, Congress passed the 21st Amendment repealing the 18th—

believed that alcohol  was the root of society's problems,

And while banning it completely  didn't work,

the health and social impacts  of alcohol remain concerns today.