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The Lawless Decade
Prohibition, Gangsters and the Glorification of Crime in the 1920s
Prohibition
Championed by the Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
Many states pass anti-drinking laws in Progressive Era
Wilson bans beer production to conserve grain for war effort
Prohibition
18th Amendment, ratified 1919Banned manufacture and sale of
“intoxicating liquors”
Volstead ActBanned anything with more than 0.5%
alcohol
Enforcement
Very lax
Government never spent money to hire more agents Spent only $5 million when $300 million needed
Led to underground economy Speakeasies Gangsters
Per Capita Consumption of Alcohol, 1910-29
Source: Clark Warburton, The Economic Results of Prohibition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1932), pp. 23-26, 72.
Al Capone
Chicago gangster Wealth made in
alcohol and prostitution
“Active” in Chicago politics
No one would testify against him
Al Capone’s “Free Lunch” Restaurant During Depression
Leopold & Loeb, 1924
Two teenagers kidnap and kill 14 year old boy
From wealthy families
“Thrill Killers” Crime and trial a
sensation
Life sentencesRichard Loeb Nathan Leopold
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
February 14, 1929, Chicago
Capone’s gang murders 7 from a rival gang - execution style
Brutality of event leads feds to crack down on Capone
Capone arrested in 1931
Murder Rate, 1910-44
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1975), part 1, p. 414.
Prohibition’s Demise
Problems Not enforceable Rise in crime Loss of tax revenue People switch to “harder” liquor
Blaine Act allowed 3.2% alcohol beer (1933)
21st Amendment repeals Prohibition (1933)
Crime Continues to Captivate
1930s
Public Enemy EraBonnie & ClydeJohn DillingerMa Barker
All met glorious (and bloody) ends
Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow