Prohibition  Production, transportation and the sale of alcohol were made illegal by the federal government (EH.net)  Began in 1920 and ended in 1933 (Walker)  Was in effect throughout all of the U.S. (Walker)

Who Was Involved?  Brought on by temperance campaigns led mainly by women (King)  “Dry” Organizations gained enough support to guarantee the new law would be passed (Feinstein)  Women's Christian Temperance Union  Anti-Saloon League  Gangsters also were quite involved with prohibition as they were bootleggers (Feinstein)

Bootleggers  Bootleggers sold alcohol to Speakeasies which was where people went to get alcohol illegally (Feinstein)  Bootleggers were usually gangsters such as Al Capone (Feinstein)  Al Capone made approximately $60 million in alcohol sales in 1927 alone (Galindo)  Al Capone stated, “Prohibition is a business. All I do is supply a public demand” (Walker)

Speakeasies  Speakeasies were bars that sold alcohol illegally during the prohibition (Feinstein)  They got their name due to the fact that you had to whisper a code in order to get in (Galindo)  New York city alone had approximately speakeasies (Galindo)  There are still speakeasies in New York that operate today (Galindo)

Why Did Prohibition Occur?  Prohibition was undertaken to  Reduce crime and Corruption (ProhibitionRepeal.com)  Solve social problems (ProhibitionRepeal.com)  Reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses (Thornton)  Improve health and hygiene in America (Thornton)  Meant to reduce demand by  Creating legal penalties for possession (EH.net)  Increasing uncertainty about product quality (EH.net)

Why Was Prohibition Abolished?  Alcohol consumption dropped at the beginning but increased as prohibition continued (Thornton)  Due to people making their own moonshine alcohol became more dangerous to consume (Walker)  It increased government spending and removed a significant source of tax revenue (Thornton)  Through the period when prohibition was in effect homicide rates increased and dropped when it was abolished (EH.net)

Why Was Prohibition Abolished?  It ended during the Great Depression due to the fact that the government could then tax alcohol again (Walker)  It led drinkers to switch to other dangerous substances such as cocaine (Thornton)  It divided the country between supporters and non-supporters (King)  700 people died from alcohol in New York city in 1927 as opposed to 84 in 1920 (King)

Connection to Text  Certain sections of this book take place during the prohibition era  Smokey Phillips father made his own moonshine due to the prohibition and was also an alcoholic  Smokey could also very well be an alcoholic; he is very shaky and is extremely grateful for the bottle of whiskey  Idgie also drank quite often during the prohibition  Idgie just had a bottle of whisky on hand to give to Smokey

Analysis  This shows how easy it was to escape prohibition either through speakeasies or by making your own alcohol  Smokey’s father could've very well sold his moonshine to make great amounts of money  They never make a big deal of drinking during prohibition, they do it just as if it was legal  When Idgie is with Eva, Eva doesn’t even bring up the fact that its prohibition, she just says “are you even old enough to have a drink”(97)  Demonstrates how easy it was to get a hold of alcohol

EH.net. “Alcohol Prohibition.” EH.net. 1 February Web. 8 October Feinstein, Stephan. The 1920s From Prohibition to Charles Lindbergh. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Print. Galindo, Brian. “15 Surprising Facts About Prohibition.” BuzzFeed. 29 April Web. 11 October King, Randy “Alcohol Prohibition, 18th Amendment ” YouTube. 14 August Web. 8 October ProhibitionRepeal.com. “History Of Prohibition.” ProhibitionRepeal.com Web. 13 October Thornton, Mark. “Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure.” Cato Institute. 17 April Web. 10 October Walker, Joaco. “Prohibition in 1920’s.” SlideShare. 2 November Web. 4 October Works Cited