The Effects On Gangsters It was obvious that millions of Americans didn’t want this law nor would even respect the reasoning for it. For the gangsters, the prohibition was a huge market for an illegal commodity in the 1920’s. The gangsters realized and took advantage of the fact that people had a huge demand for alcohol, and would pay a lot more than they normally would for it. As time went on in the 1920’s and the early 1930’s the demand for alcohol rose at an extreme amount of money because of the steps that had been taken by the government to get rid of its existence. Some gangsters would hire men to smuggle rum and other liquors from the Caribbean, these smugglers were known as rumrunners. Other gangsters hired men to hijack whiskey from Canada and bring it into the United States. Gang members made most of their money by illegally buying large quantities of homemade liquor, and then open up secret bars known as speakeasies for people who wanted to drink and socialize together. In response to the obtaining of alcohol illegally, the police and other government officials would hire agents to specifically investigate the matter. These newly hired Prohibition agents were responsible for the raiding of speakeasies, finding of stills and arresting gangsters suspected to be distributing the alcohol illegally. Although many of these agents believed that what they were doing was for the benefit of the country, despite that they were under-paid and furthermore less qualified than others, they began to ultimately become corrupt due to the bribery they had been given by the gangsters. Gangsters in turn gained much respect in the communities because they were the only people able to obtain alcohol.
| The Effects On the Common Man The newly passed law was controversial because it made the common, hard working man, who would normally enjoy a well deserved drink after a hard days work, look like a criminal in the law's eyes. The prohibition did put a short stop to American alcohol consumption as a whole, mainly in the time period between 1920, and 1933. As time went on men wanted and had the demand for more alcohol. Eventually men stopped caring about the law, and didn't obey it. The Prohibition didn't only effect the social life of the average American man, it also effected the home life of the men as well.
Back in the 1920's and early 1930's the man, or husband of the family was expected to support the families financial well-being. Since alcohol consumption was extremely popular before the prohibition, many breweries, and big distilleries had many male employees. Because of the new law, that made alcohol manufacturing illegal, the employees that worked for these big companies lost their jobs, and in return struggled to support their families. However many families were happy that this law had passed because it saved many of the men and husbands lives. The death rate in men from cirrhosis of the liver in 1911 was 29.5 men per 100,000. After the prohibition of alcohol had been put into place, the death rate from cirrhosis of the liver dropped to 10.7 men per 100,000 in 1929. Before the prohibition alcohol consumption was at 50%, while the prohibition was in place, it fell to 30%.Since America made the selling, and manufacturing of alcohol illegal, it made it harder for the average man to obtain alcohol, thus making the consumption of adulterated or contaminated liquor decrease. Contaminated alcohol caused many cases of blindness and paralysis; it also contributed to more than 50,000 deaths a year. |