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

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    On January 17, 1920, six armed
    men robbed a Chicago freight train.
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    But it wasn’t money they were after.
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    Less than one hour after spirits had
    become illegal
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    throughout the United States,
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    the robbers made off with thousands
    of dollars worth of whiskey.
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    It was a first taste of the unintended
    consequences of Prohibition.
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    The nationwide ban on the production
    and sale of alcohol in the United States
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    came on the heels of a similar ban
    in Russia
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    that started as a wartime measure
    during World War I.
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    But the view in the Western world
    of alcohol
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    as a primary cause of social
    ills was much older.
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    It first gained traction during the
    Industrial Revolution
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    as new populations of workers poured
    into cities
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    and men gathered in saloons to drink.
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    By the 19th century, anti-drinking
    groups called temperance movements
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    began to appear in the United States
    and parts of Europe.
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    Temperance groups believed that
    alcohol was the fundamental driver
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    behind problems like poverty and
    domestic violence,
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    and set out to convince
    governments of this.
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    While some simply advocated moderate
    drinking,
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    many believed alcohol should be
    banned entirely.
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    These movements drew support from
    broad sectors of society.
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    Women’s organizations were active
    participants from the beginning,
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    arguing that alcohol made men neglect
    their families and abuse their wives.
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    Religious authorities,
    especially Protestants,
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    denounced alcohol as leading
    to temptation and sin.
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    Progressive labor activists believed
    alcohol consumption
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    harmed workers’ ability to organize.
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    Governments weren’t strangers to the
    idea of prohibition, either.
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    In the United States and Canada,
    white settlers introduced hard liquors
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    like rum to Native communities,
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    then blamed alcohol for disrupting
    these communities—
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    though there were many other destructive
    aspects of their interactions.
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    The American and Canadian governments
    banned the sale of alcohol
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    to Native populations
    and on reservation land.
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    American temperance movements gained
    their first victories
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    at the state and local levels,
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    with Maine and several other states
    banning the sale and production of liquor
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    in the 1850s.
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    In 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment to the
    US Constitution
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    banned the manufacture, sale, and
    transportation of all alcoholic beverages.
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    The amendment took effect a year later
    under the Volstead Act.
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    Since the act did not ban personal
    consumption,
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    wealthy people took the opportunity
    to stock up while restaurants and bars
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    rushed to sell their remaining supply.
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    Workers lost their jobs as distilleries,
    breweries, and wineries closed down.
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    Meanwhile, organized crime groups
    rushed to meet the demand for alcohol,
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    establishing a lucrative black market
    in producing, smuggling,
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    and selling illicit liquor.
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    Often they worked side-by side with
    corrupt policemen
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    and government officials,
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    even bombing the 1928 primary election
    for Illinois state attorney
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    in support of a particular
    political faction.
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    Tens of thousands of illegal bars,
    known as ‘speakeasies,’
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    began serving alcohol.
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    They ranged from dingy basement bars
    to elaborate dance-halls.
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    People could also make alcohol at home
    for their own consumption,
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    or obtain it legally with a doctor’s
    prescription or for religious purposes.
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    To prevent industrial alcohol from being
    consumed,
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    the government required manufacturers
    to add harmful chemicals,
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    leading to thousands of poisoning deaths.
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    We don’t know exactly how much people
    were drinking during Prohibition
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    because illegal alcohol wasn’t regulated
    or taxed.
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    But by the late 1920s,
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    it was clear that Prohibition had not
    brought the social improvements
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    it had promised.
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    Instead it contributed to political
    corruption and organized crime
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    and was flouted by millions of citizens.
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    At one raid on an Detroit beer hall,
    the local sheriff, mayor,
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    and a congressman were
    arrested for drinking.
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    With the start of the Great
    Depression in 1929,
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    the government sorely needed the tax
    revenue from alcohol sales,
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    and believed that lifting Prohibition
    would stimulate the economy.
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    In 1933, Congress passed the 21st
    Amendment repealing the 18th–
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    the only amendment to be fully repealed.
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    Members of the temperance movements
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    believed that alcohol was the
    root of society’s problems,
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    but the reality is more complicated.
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    And while banning it completely
    didn’t work,
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    the health and social impacts of
    alcohol remain concerns today.
Title:
What happened when the United States tried to ban alcohol - Rod Phillips
Speaker:
Rod Phillips
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
04:54

English subtitles

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