Prohibition DBQ Essay

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“Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes.” (Abraham Lincoln) The year was 1920. After the economic boom in the alcohol industry, more people were drinking. Bars, taverns, and restaurant were making more money than ever and people couldn’t stop. Congress eventually voted that alcohol had led to and caused too many crimes and accidents. It was decided that alcohol would be banned in America. The prohibition era caused uproar and criminals began filing their wallets with cash because of the alcohol that they distributed illegally. The economy began to crash and America had to revert back to its previous state. The 18th amendment, was the only amendment to be repealed. So why did America changed its mind on prohibition? Crime rates increased, America had minimal control …show more content…
The crime rate increased dramatically and there was no stopping it. Document B was a graph that showed the increase in crime rate during the Prohibition era. Prohibition allowed more criminals to take control of an illegal business. Because of this, criminals had began popping up everywhere attempting to earn money by exploiting the government. Document A explains the increase of crime via a political cartoon. It illustrates Uncle Sam dancing with criminals going towards the depression. This was to show that America was full of criminals that were going to lead it into what we know today as the Great Depression. The cartoon stresses the fact that there was uncontrollable crime. According to Wikipedia.com, people became so addicted to alcohol that they were willing to kill and steal for it. The murder rate had increased because Americans wanted alcohol. People also began to steal alcohol from others who had stockpiled it. Both of these things lead to a higher crime rate. It damaged the federal government, the morale of the people, and killed
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