What happened when the United States tried to ban alcohol - Rod Phillips

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On January 17, 1920, less than one hour after spirits had become illegal throughout the United States, armed men robbed a Chicago freight train and made off with thousands of dollars worth of whiskey. It was a first taste of the unintended consequences of Prohibition. So what exactly was Prohibition, and why did it happen? Rod Phillips investigates this chapter of American history.

Lesson by Rod Phillips, directed by Gibbons Studio.

On January 17, 1920, six armed men
robbed a Chicago freight train.

But it wasn’t money they were after.

Less than one hour after spirits
had become illegal

throughout the United States,

the robbers made off with thousands
of dollars worth of whiskey.

It was a first taste of the unintended
consequences of Prohibition.

The nationwide ban on the production
and sale of alcohol in the United States

came on the heels
of a similar ban in Russia

that started as a wartime measure
during World War I.

But the view in the Western world
of alcohol

as a primary cause of social ills
was much older.

It first gained traction
during the Industrial Revolution

as new populations of workers
poured into cities

and men gathered in saloons to drink.

By the 19th century, anti-drinking groups
called temperance movements

began to appear in the United States
and parts of Europe.

Temperance groups believed
that alcohol was the fundamental driver

behind problems like poverty
and domestic violence,

and set out to convince
governments of this.

While some simply advocated
moderate drinking,

many believed alcohol
should be banned entirely.

These movements drew support
from broad sectors of society.

Women’s organizations were active
participants from the beginning,

arguing that alcohol made men neglect
their families and abuse their wives.

Religious authorities,
especially Protestants,

denounced alcohol
as leading to temptation and sin.

Progressive labor activists
believed alcohol consumption

harmed workers’ ability to organize.

Governments weren’t strangers
to the idea of prohibition, either.

In the United States and Canada,
white settlers introduced hard liquors

like rum to Native communities,

then blamed alcohol for disrupting
these communities—

though there were many other
destructive aspects of their interactions.

The American and Canadian governments
banned the sale of alcohol

to Native populations
and on reservation land.

American temperance movements gained
their first victories

at the state and local levels,

with Maine and several other states
banning the sale and production of liquor

in the 1850s.

In 1919 the 18th Amendment
to the US Constitution

banned the manufacture, sale,
and transportation

of all alcoholic beverages.

The amendment took effect a year later
under the Volstead Act.

Since the act did not ban
personal consumption,

wealthy people took the opportunity
to stock up while restaurants and bars

rushed to sell their remaining supply.

Workers lost their jobs as distilleries,
breweries, and wineries closed down.

Meanwhile, organized crime groups
rushed to meet the demand for alcohol,

establishing a lucrative black market
in producing, smuggling,

and selling illicit liquor.

Often they worked side-by side
with corrupt policemen

and government officials,

even bombing the 1928 primary election
for Illinois state attorney

in support of a particular
political faction.

Tens of thousands of illegal bars,
known as "speakeasies,"

began serving alcohol.

They ranged from dingy basement bars
to elaborate dance-halls.

People could also make alcohol
at home for their own consumption,

or obtain it legally with a doctor’s
prescription or for religious purposes.

To prevent industrial alcohol
from being consumed,

the government required manufacturers
to add harmful chemicals,

leading to thousands of poisoning deaths.

We don’t know exactly how much people
were drinking during Prohibition

because illegal alcohol
wasn’t regulated or taxed.

But by the late 1920s,

it was clear that Prohibition
had not brought the social improvements

it had promised.

Instead it contributed to political
corruption and organized crime

and was flouted by millions of citizens.

At one raid on an Detroit beer hall,
the local sheriff, mayor and a congressman

were arrested for drinking.

With the start of the Great
Depression in 1929,

the government sorely needed the tax
revenue from alcohol sales,

and believed that lifting Prohibition
would stimulate the economy.

In 1933, Congress passed the 21st
Amendment repealing the 18th—

the only amendment to be fully repealed.

Members of the temperance movements

believed that alcohol
was the root of society’s problems,

but the reality is more complicated.

And while banning it completely
didn’t work,

the health and social impacts
of alcohol remain concerns today.