13 sec. 1

Changing Ways of Life

Rural to Urban

• In 1920 - more Americans lived in cities than in villages and farms

Largest Cities

• 1. New York 5.6 million

• 2. Chicago 3 million

• 3. Philadelphia 2 million

Differences between Rural & Urban

• Cities moved much faster• Cities had many different types of ethnic

groups• More entertainment in cities• City dwellers tolerated drinking, gambling,

and casual dating• People were not as friendly• Small towns were seen as morally superior

Prohibition

• 18th Amendment - outlawed the manufacture, distribution, or sale of alcohol

• Small towners believed that alcohol led to crime and wife and child abuse

• Support for prohibition came from the south and midwest

• Big cities were not supportive

Speakeasies

• Secret drinking establishments

• People used secret passwords - “Fletcher sent me” or “I’m here to see Joe”

Bootleggers

• People who brought in alcohol illegally from Canada, Cuba or the West Indies

Moonshiners

• People who made their own alcohol and sold it

• “The business of evading the law … has become a national sport”

Mafia

• Gangs ruled every large city

• Capone ruled Chicago and controlled many other cities

• Made $105 million in 1927

• 522 were killed in gangland killings in Chicago alone

Capone

• Arrested on tax evasion charges in 1931

• Sent to Alcatraz

Prohibition

• Only 19% of Americans supported prohibition as of the mid 1920’s

• 21st amendment repeals 18th amendment in 1933 - ending prohibition

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre• Dion O'Banion was the owner of a florist shop in Chicago. After the

passing of the National Prohibition Act he was also one of the main providers of illegal alcohol in Chicago. In 1926 O'Banion was shot dead outside his shop. His gang were convinced that the murder had been ordered by Al Capone, a rival bootlegger. Soon after O'Banion's death eight cars filled with gangsters, raked Capone's headquarters with machine-gun fire. This heralded the start of Chicago's gar wars. Over the next few years over 500 gangsters were killed in the city. The most notorious case was an event that became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

• At half-past ten on 14th February, 1929, six members of the Bugs Moran gang were sitting in a garage waiting for a consignment of illegal alcohol. Instead a Cadillac arrived carrying three men dressed as policemen. They were accompanied by two men in civilian clothes. The policemen entered the building and told the six gangsters and John May, a mechanic working in the garage, to stand in a row against the wall with their hands in the air. This was common procedure during a police raid and the men did as they were told. The two civilians then entered the garage and mowed them down with sub-machine gun fire. Although it was assumed that the murders had been ordered by Al Capone, no one was ever convicted of the crime.

Captured Stills

Note Quiz

• 1. What was the amendment that banned alcohol in the U.S.?

• 2. Who tended to support prohibition more, city dwellers or people from small towns?

• 3. Which amendment abolished prohibition?

• 4. What was the largest city in the U.S. in the early 1900’s?

• 5. When did America become more urban than rural?

• 6. Al Capone was arrested on charges that he did what?

• 7. Where did Capone serve time in jail?

• 8. What was the name of the most famous killings that took place in Chicago?