While the 18th Amendment, otherwise known as the ban on alcohol, caused bars to give out free drinks and dump alcohol the day before the nationwide enactment of it, other people saw this as a business opportunity to double to cost of the now illegal substance. A rise in organized crime stemmed from this new "business opportunity". "Bootlegging", a term coined in the early 20th century, became a new form of business and organized crime. "Bootlegging" means the act of selling illicit and illegal substances.
One of the most infamous criminals who used the ban to their advantage is Al Capone. Born in New York, he grew up to be an "American Gangster". Al Capone made around $60-$100 million dollars from his control over speakeasies and bootlegging. Despite being a criminal, Al Capone was known as a "Real-life Robin Hood", and during the beginning of the Great Depression, he opened up soup kitchens and gave to charities. Although seen as benevolent, Al Capone lived a lavish lifestyle. His faults were overlooked until 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
All positive public sentiment for Al Capone dissipated when he shot a killed 7 of his rival business's men, and attempted to kill the head of his rival business, Bugs Moran. The media quickly covered this incident and all public support was lost for the former "Robin Hood." St. Valentine's Day was a reminder of Al Capone's true identity, a criminal, and an American Gangster. As his 11 year sentence came to an end, America's support for the prohibition of alcohol dwindled, and the 18th Amendment was repealed.
I think that the rise of organized crime during this period, along with the Great Depression, really pushed this prohibition act out of the picture. The Great Depression caused a lot of people to look for outlets, such as speakeasies, and of course, liquor. Especially under these circumstances, the government would (and did) have a hard time enforcing it, leading to the repeal of the 18th Amendment.
Bibliography:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies
http://www.history.com/topics/18th-and-21st-amendments
http://www.history.com/topics/al-capone
Thanks for your interesting post Tanshi. I found it interesting that people actually considered Al Capone to be a "real-life Robin Hood" until the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Most people only think of him now as one of the most famous American criminals. Also, I feel that the repeal of the 18th amendment was the right decision since it didn't stop people from drinking too much, and it only caused new problems. It seems that the government and the people were better off without the 18th amendment.
ReplyDeleteYour insight on how people used to view Al Capone was a major shock to me since now days we think of him as a greedy criminal when really he was more sophisticated than that. He differs from criminals in the way that he wanted to reach out to the poor and help them instead of take from them.
ReplyDeleteI think there is hilarious irony in the idea that a law cracking down on "corrupt" and "sinful" ways caused one of history's most infamous gangsters to gain all of his power through the selling of alcohol. I think it is so interesting to watch how certain events can completely change the world's view of a person, such as how Capone was taken down from the hero he was at the time to the corrupt and sleazy mobster we all know him as today by the Valentine's Massacre. This article says a big part of his success was due to his great likability; he was well-known for his kindness and benevolence, and this might be a big part of how he gained the respect of others and therefore his power. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126419364
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Tanshi! I thought that it was really interesting how Al Capone actually helped the poor with the establishment of soup kitchens and charities. I actually wrote a blog post last week about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. If you wanted to learn a little bit more about it, history.com made a really informative video about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.history.com/topics/al-capone/videos/st-valentines-day-massacre