WEBVTT 00:00:06.819 --> 00:00:13.382 On January 17, 1920, six armed men robbed a Chicago freight train. 00:00:13.382 --> 00:00:15.756 But it wasn’t money they were after. 00:00:15.756 --> 00:00:18.996 Less than one hour after spirits had become illegal 00:00:18.996 --> 00:00:20.433 throughout the United States, 00:00:20.433 --> 00:00:24.788 the robbers made off with thousands of dollars worth of whiskey. 00:00:24.788 --> 00:00:30.038 It was a first taste of the unintended consequences of Prohibition. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:30.038 --> 00:00:34.979 The nationwide ban on the production and sale of alcohol in the United States 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:37.669 came on the heels of a similar ban in Russia 00:00:37.669 --> 00:00:41.199 that started as a wartime measure during World War I. 00:00:41.199 --> 00:00:43.989 But the view in the Western world of alcohol 00:00:43.989 --> 00:00:48.370 as a primary cause of social ills was much older. 00:00:48.370 --> 00:00:51.870 It first gained traction during the Industrial Revolution 00:00:51.870 --> 00:00:54.750 as new populations of workers poured into cities 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.710 and men gathered in saloons to drink. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:57.710 --> 00:01:01.855 By the 19th century, anti-drinking groups called temperance movements 00:01:01.855 --> 00:01:05.735 began to appear in the United States and parts of Europe. 00:01:05.735 --> 00:01:09.385 Temperance groups believed that alcohol was the fundamental driver 00:01:09.385 --> 00:01:12.575 behind problems like poverty and domestic violence, 00:01:12.575 --> 00:01:15.515 and set out to convince governments of this. 00:01:15.515 --> 00:01:18.205 While some simply advocated moderate drinking, 00:01:18.205 --> 00:01:22.205 many believed alcohol should be banned entirely. 00:01:22.205 --> 00:01:25.695 These movements drew support from broad sectors of society. 00:01:25.695 --> 00:01:29.275 Women’s organizations were active participants from the beginning, 00:01:29.275 --> 00:01:34.179 arguing that alcohol made men neglect their families and abuse their wives. 00:01:34.179 --> 00:01:36.679 Religious authorities, especially Protestants, 00:01:36.679 --> 00:01:40.289 denounced alcohol as leading to temptation and sin. 00:01:40.289 --> 00:01:43.659 Progressive labor activists believed alcohol consumption 00:01:43.659 --> 00:01:46.589 harmed workers’ ability to organize. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:46.589 --> 00:01:50.029 Governments weren’t strangers to the idea of prohibition, either. 00:01:50.029 --> 00:01:53.799 In the United States and Canada, white settlers introduced hard liquors 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.179 like rum to Native communities, 00:01:56.179 --> 00:01:59.209 then blamed alcohol for disrupting these communities— 00:01:59.209 --> 00:02:03.306 though there were many other destructive aspects of their interactions. 00:02:03.306 --> 00:02:07.136 The American and Canadian governments banned the sale of alcohol 00:02:07.136 --> 00:02:10.711 to Native populations and on reservation land. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:10.711 --> 00:02:13.742 American temperance movements gained their first victories 00:02:13.742 --> 00:02:15.822 at the state and local levels, 00:02:15.822 --> 00:02:20.089 with Maine and several other states banning the sale and production of liquor 00:02:20.089 --> 00:02:22.109 in the 1850s. 00:02:22.109 --> 00:02:26.109 In 1919 the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution 00:02:26.109 --> 00:02:29.439 banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.249 of all alcoholic beverages. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:32.249 --> 00:02:35.899 The amendment took effect a year later under the Volstead Act. 00:02:35.899 --> 00:02:39.039 Since the act did not ban personal consumption, 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:43.443 wealthy people took the opportunity to stock up while restaurants and bars 00:02:43.443 --> 00:02:46.183 rushed to sell their remaining supply. 00:02:46.183 --> 00:02:51.614 Workers lost their jobs as distilleries, breweries, and wineries closed down. 00:02:51.614 --> 00:02:56.423 Meanwhile, organized crime groups rushed to meet the demand for alcohol, 00:02:56.423 --> 00:03:00.482 establishing a lucrative black market in producing, smuggling, 00:03:00.482 --> 00:03:02.982 and selling illicit liquor. 00:03:02.982 --> 00:03:06.022 Often they worked side-by side with corrupt policemen 00:03:06.022 --> 00:03:07.412 and government officials, 00:03:07.412 --> 00:03:12.174 even bombing the 1928 primary election for Illinois state attorney 00:03:12.174 --> 00:03:16.347 in support of a particular political faction. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:16.347 --> 00:03:20.381 Tens of thousands of illegal bars, known as "speakeasies," 00:03:20.381 --> 00:03:22.021 began serving alcohol. 00:03:22.021 --> 00:03:25.861 They ranged from dingy basement bars to elaborate dance-halls. 00:03:25.861 --> 00:03:29.511 People could also make alcohol at home for their own consumption, 00:03:29.511 --> 00:03:34.966 or obtain it legally with a doctor’s prescription or for religious purposes. 00:03:34.966 --> 00:03:38.080 To prevent industrial alcohol from being consumed, 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.207 the government required manufacturers to add harmful chemicals, 00:03:42.207 --> 00:03:46.195 leading to thousands of poisoning deaths. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:46.195 --> 00:03:49.885 We don’t know exactly how much people were drinking during Prohibition 00:03:49.885 --> 00:03:53.195 because illegal alcohol wasn’t regulated or taxed. 00:03:53.195 --> 00:03:54.878 But by the late 1920s, 00:03:54.878 --> 00:03:58.618 it was clear that Prohibition had not brought the social improvements 00:03:58.618 --> 00:03:59.818 it had promised. 00:03:59.818 --> 00:04:04.022 Instead it contributed to political corruption and organized crime 00:04:04.022 --> 00:04:06.875 and was flouted by millions of citizens. 00:04:06.875 --> 00:04:12.707 At one raid on an Detroit beer hall, the local sheriff, mayor and a congressman 00:04:12.707 --> 00:04:14.637 were arrested for drinking. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:14.637 --> 00:04:17.637 With the start of the Great Depression in 1929, 00:04:17.637 --> 00:04:21.637 the government sorely needed the tax revenue from alcohol sales, 00:04:21.637 --> 00:04:25.497 and believed that lifting Prohibition would stimulate the economy. 00:04:25.497 --> 00:04:30.950 In 1933, Congress passed the 21st Amendment repealing the 18th— 00:04:30.950 --> 00:04:34.800 the only amendment to be fully repealed. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:36.480 Members of the temperance movements 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:40.140 believed that alcohol was the root of society’s problems, 00:04:40.140 --> 00:04:42.630 but the reality is more complicated. 00:04:42.630 --> 00:04:45.220 And while banning it completely didn’t work, 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:50.161 the health and social impacts of alcohol remain concerns today.