Quick questions on Prohibition: HSC Modern History USA the Volstead era

Temperance had been an organised American movement since the 1820s. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (founded 1874, under Frances Willard from 1879) and the Anti-Saloon League (founded 1893 in Ohio, led by Wayne Wheeler) built a powerful single-issue coalition. By 1916 around half of all Americans lived in dry states or counties.

The National Prohibition Act, sponsored by Representative Andrew Volstead (Republican, Minnesota), defined the prohibited "intoxicating liquor" as any beverage over 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume. It was passed over Wilson's veto on 28 October 1919.

Stills proliferated. Industrial alcohol was diverted; the Treasury responded with mandatory denaturing in 1927 that killed around 10,000 Americans by 1933.

Illegal drinking establishments grew from around 15,000 saloons before Prohibition to an estimated 30,000 speakeasies in New York City alone by 1927. The Cotton Club in Harlem and the 21 Club in Manhattan became cultural fixtures.

Big Jim Colosimo was murdered on 11 May 1920. Johnny Torrio took over and consolidated the "Chicago Outfit"; Torrio retired after being shot in January 1925 and handed control to his lieutenant Al Capone. Capone's main rival was the North Side Gang under Dion O'Banion (murdered 1924) and then Bugs Moran.

The "Five Families" took the form they would keep into the post-war era under Lucky Luciano, who eliminated Joe Masseria (15 April 1931) and Salvatore Maranzano (10 September 1931) and reorganised the Italian-American mafia around the Commission.

Alcohol-related deaths fell early but rose again as denatured industrial alcohol entered the supply. Cirrhosis deaths dropped around 30 per cent in 1920 to 1921 and recovered as supply recovered.

Federal alcohol revenue (around 14 per cent of receipts before 1920) was lost, then regained after 1933.

Drinking became socially mixed; women drank in speakeasies. Cocktails proliferated (often disguising poor-quality bootleg liquor). Jazz spread through the speakeasy circuit.

The Eighteenth Amendment remains the only constitutional amendment in American history to have been repealed.

Source A is an extract from the Wickersham Commission report (1931). Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain the failure of Prohibition. [5 marks]

Evaluate the extent to which Prohibition was a failure of policy. [25 marks]

Compare the views of Daniel Okrent and Lisa McGirr on Prohibition. [10 marks]