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[[File:Al_Capone_in_1930.jpg|left|200px|thumbnail|Al Capone awaiting trial]] In the early days of prohibition, enforcement was straightforward. From this period, many of the iconic images show federal officials breaking bottles of alcohol or dumping barrels of beer into open drains. Despite these dramatic scenes, large swathes of the nation were not ready to give up the intoxicating liquid. Wherever there is demand for a product, market forces will provide a supply. When the demand is for an illegal substance, that supply will also be illegal. As a result, Prohibition coincided with a spectacular rise in organized crime in the United States. Speakeasies, or illegally hidden saloons, sprang up in major cities across America. To provide the alcohol, these establishments served, a whole network of illegal businesses dedicated to the production and delivery of alcohol appeared.
==Depending on your perspective, Prohibition was either a failure or, at best, a muted success. All accounts contributed to the rise of other societal ills, regardless of the benefits achieved through less public drunkenness. As people who wanted to drink found ways around the law, and the immediate statistical benefits of Prohibition became less clear by the end of the 1920s, the popularity of the ban dwindled. ==“I think this would be a good time for a beer”====
Admin moved page Why did the United States pass and then repeal the constitutional amendment prohibiting alcohol? to Why did the United States pass and then repeal the constitutional amendment prohibiting alcohol
Throughout the antebellum period, there was palpable tension between teetotalers (those who wanted complete abstinence from alcohol) and the more traditional view that drinking was a normal social activity. As the nation tore itself apart over the issue of slavery, little meaningful progress came on the temperance front, although the movement slowly increased its membership throughout the 1800s.
====Temperance Fountains and What was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)==? ==
[[File:Wctu_logo.png|left|250px|thumbnail|Women's Christian Temperance Union emblen]]
Perhaps the clearest examples of how views regarding alcohol shifted after the Civil War were physically present on the landscape and visible in American politics. The introduction of water drinking fountains in urban areas and the influence of organizations like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union represent the rise of ideas that would continue into the 20th century as part of the Progressive Movement. For much of human history, access to clean drinking water presented a significant engineering challenge. The Romans brought water to the heart of major urban areas through aqueducts, and the same public health problems that inspired these engineering marvels continued to plague cities. As a result, drinking water in many cities was unsafe throughout the 19th century.
In this way, the WCTU can be seen as part of a larger effort to have women recognized as equal political actors in a country where they were not granted the right to vote or control many aspects of their lives, including controlling their own property or the legal fates of their children. Concurrent with the WCTU, many women also joined women’s suffrage organizations, which often clearly identified the same arguments about bringing morality to society, particularly the rough and tumbled world of politics.
====The How did the Progressive Era and lead to Prohibition==? ==
[[File: Prohibition_agents_destroying_barrels_of_alcohol_(United_States,_prohibition_era)_(1).jpg|thumbnail|left| Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol]]
The Progressive Era, which overlapped with the growth of the WCTU and the construction of temperance fountains, was a period of upheaval in the United States that in some ways mirrors the reform movements of the 1830s. Once again, there was a great surge in the belief in the perfectibility of human society. However, one difference was the equally firm belief in the government's role in implementing this perfect society. While the WCTU and the temperance fountains relied on appeals to individuals' morality, the Progressive Era attempted to bring about societal change through the enforcement powers of government.
Finally, the clarifying experience of World War I provided one last push toward prohibition. With grains in high demand for the war effort and many of the ethnic and religious groups that identified with the “wet” side of the debate viewed with suspicion as possible collaborators with the enemy, the “dry” camp finally had enough support to introduce a constitutional amendment, which passed in 1919. Prohibition was scheduled to go into effect in January of 1920, and a great social, economic, and political experiment began.
==What problems did Prohibition create?==Prohibitions Problems====[[File:Al_Capone_in_1930.jpg|left|300px|thumbnail|Al Capone awaiting trial]] In the early days of prohibition, enforcement was straightforward. From this period, many of the iconic images show federal officials breaking bottles of alcohol or dumping barrels of beer into open drains. Despite these dramatic scenes, large swathes of the nation were not ready to give up the intoxicating liquid. Wherever there is demand for a product, market forces will provide a supply. When the demand is for an illegal substance, that supply will also be illegal.
Major crime organizations that would later be romanticized by Hollywood rose to prominence through the lucrative business of supplying thirsty Americans with the alcohol they demanded. The gang wars that resulted were brutal in their efficiency and their death toll. Rival gangs fought over territory, and the money they made often flowed into local politics. Federal enforcement of Prohibition seemed to consistently stay a step behind the gangs who provided the illegal alcohol and the 1920s saw an increasing division between the fast-moving urban life and the more traditional and conservative rural society. Depending on your perspective, Prohibition was either a failure or, at best, a muted success. All accounts contributed to the rise of other societal ills, regardless of the benefits achieved through less public drunkenness. As people who wanted to drink found ways around the law, and the immediate statistical benefits of Prohibition became less clear by the end of the 1920s, the popularity of the ban dwindled.
While the “roaring 20s” raged in the cities with alcohol flowing to speakeasies and blood flowing in the streets, deeper economic problems in the country's farmland and financial markets indicated there were even bigger storm clouds on the horizon. With the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, the demand for alcohol and its ancillary entertainment venues declined. Simultaneous with the decline in government revenue due to the Great Depression, a Democratic coalition emerged and supported Franklin Roosevelt in his bid for the presidency. Roosevelt made job creation his priority and included the repeal of Prohibition on his platform. Political concerns also extended beyond simply appealing to potential voters.
