Prohibition society

• The Volstead Act of 1920 tried to enforce the ban on alcohol
• Many Prohibition Agents accepted bribes to turn a blind eye due to low wages
• The 18th Amendment was passed, banning the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol throughout the US


  1919
• Types of crime during Prohibition

  • Violence
  • Vice
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929 was a notable example of gang violence
• Gangsters made around $2 billion a year from selling illegal alcohol, allowing them to expand their criminal business into other areas
• One in twelve agents were fired for corruption
• Prohibition Agents

  Collaborated with local police forces to raid 'speakeasies and warehouses'
• Many police officers were reluctant to report on their friends and families
• Elliott Ness and his agents were famously incorruptible and became known as the 'Untouchables'
• Thousands were killed in the violence, with Al Capone personally responsible for 200 deaths
• Many senior officers and judges accepted bribes to turn a blind eye
• Prohibition Agents

  Highly-trained men supposed to investigate, hunt down, and arrest those involved in manufacturing or smuggling alcohol
• The Prohibition Agency was badly under-funded with only 200 agents to cover the entire USA
• Although corruption was widespread and severe, not every law enforcer was involved
• Don Chaplin, an FBI boss in New York, fired every agent wearing a diamond ring to tackle corruption
• Normal law enforcement

  Police officers, border authorities, and judges were supposed to support the Prohibition Agency, aid in investigations and arrests, and impose heavy fines and sentences
• The purpose of the 18th Amendment was to try to improve people's lives and reduce crime
• Gangsters like Bugs Moran competed for control of districts, leading to widespread violence and intimidation
• Gangsters bribed jockeys and sportsmen to "fix" events and set up illegal casinos with tricks
• Gangsters became famous for their use of the Thompson submachine gun
• Crime was widespread and severe, but not allowed to run entirely rampant
• Thousands were killed in the violence
• Illegal activities of gangsters

  • Bribing jockeys and other sportsmen to "fix" events
  • Accepting bets from a gullible public
  • Setting up illegal casinos with weighted dice and other tricks
  • Trafficking drugs (chiefly marijuana and cocaine)
  • Pimpling prostitutes
• In February 1929, Al Capone hired assassins to murder members of his rival 'Bugs' Moran's gang in the St Valentine's Day Massacre
• In 1919, Al Capone moved to Chicago to help run Torrio's brothels there
• In October 1931, Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison and incarcerated on Alcatraz
• The St Valentine's Day Massacre shocked the US public
• Al Capone was born in Brooklyn New York in 1899
• Al Capone made around $100 million a year running massive bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling rackets in the city
• Al Capone was personally responsible for 200 deaths
• Crime tackled to some extent

  1. Annual number of arrests doubled over time (30,000 to 60,000 a year)

  2. Overall consumption of alcohol fell by about 30% across the US

  3. Prohibition Agents Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith (Izzy & Moe) made over 4,000 arrests

  4. Nearly 300,000 illegal stills were seized
• Increased crime (violence and vice)

  Possible due to increased corruption (failure to enforce the law)
• Al Capone began working for local gangster Johnny Torrio as a teenager
• By 1925, Al Capone had taken over the Chicago gang
• An elite group of Prohibition Agents, known as the "Untouchables" and led by Eliot Ness, brought Al Capone to justice
• The St Valentine's Day Massacre involved dressing up as police officers and shooting all seven gangsters dead
• Al Capone controlled city officials, like the mayor 'Big Bill' Thompson, through bribery