Prohibition is Ratified
Chicago was a hub for European immigrants in the early twentieth century. The census figures for Illinois in 1910 stated that more than half of residents were either first or second generation American citizens. Anti-immigrant sentiments by temperance unions ran rampant throughout the country as the majority of immigrants were Irish, German, Scandinavian, and Eastern European and had alcoholic beverages as a central part of their respective cultures. Temperance groups saw immigrants as a threat to the established way of American life, believing that they were the cause for violence in urban areas. During World War I, some viewed the abstention from beer as patriotic since it was considered anti-German.
Embargoes on alcoholic beverages existed in American culture prior to the Eighteenth Amendment. The first formal temperance group, the American Temperance Society, was established in 1826. Within 10 years, over a million people joined the group, pledging abstinence from distilled spirits. By 1855, the sale of alcohol was prohibited in thirteen states, except for medicinal or religious purposes. By the time World War I arrived, temperance was a hotly contested subject in local and state politics as the nation was divided between “wets” and “drys.”
On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act which enabled federal enforcement of Prohibition. The law regulated the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating beverages over 0.5% by volume. People were allowed to possess and consume liquor at home, but were not allowed to manufacture or sell it. Through a loophole in a section of the act, cider and fruit juices were able to be produced at home, allowing people to produce homemade alcoholic ciders and wine.
Within a week of Prohibition’s effective date, small portable stills were sold all over the country for people to brew their own alcohol at home. These liquors were often brewed with harmful ingredients like industrial alcohol and, if not properly diluted, resulted in blindness, paralysis, and death. In 1927, approximately 12,000 deaths were attributed to alcohol poisoning with the urban poor comprising the bulk of deaths as they could not afford expensive illegally imported alcohol.
Gangsters, like Al Capone, profited from the sale of these harsh, homemade liquors by selling them to owners of speakeasies. Also known as “Blind Pigs” or “Blind Tigers,” these hidden cocktail lounges reshaped the landscape of social interactions between genders, ethnicities, and races. The alcohol that was served was so harsh at these establishments that traditional cocktail recipes, which allowed the consumer to taste the flavor of the alcohol, made way for stronger cocktails to mask the unpleasant flavor of homemade liquor.
During the course of the Volstead Act, over 500,000 people were sent to jail for violations. Violent crime increased every year until Prohibition was repealed. Homicide rates in Chicago during Prohibition increased by 21% from 1920-1930, while the rate of alcohol-related homicides remained relatively unchanged. Chicago was a hub for illegal liquor importation and the city’s politicians and police were sometimes involved in the bootlegging business. Politicians received large payouts from gangsters. Even Mayor William Thompson got kickbacks from Al Capone. Americans increasingly viewed the government as hopelessly corrupt. The loss of the trust and respect of citizens in government was one reason the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the government on December 5, 1933 at 7:00 p.m. Champagne flutes could again clink in celebration.
