How important was the impact of the Volstead Act in influencing American society in the 1920s? The ‘Roaring Twenties’ was the age of the New Woman, with political liberation to the right to vote, economic liberation to jobs and household appliances, and social liberation to fashion and new norms of behaviour symbolised by ’flappers’. The Volstead Act was introduced in 1919, which prohibited alcohol.
Criminal gangs were already powerful but with the Prohibition they gained even more. Therefore the Volstead Act was the key factor in making organised crime organised.The Volstead Act impacted American society in many ways. Prohibition caused the growth of crime, massacres and gang related violence and corruption. The Volstead Act was passed by Congress in 1919, which enabled the enforcement of Prohibition. It banned the manufacture, selling and transportation of alcohol.
This ban was widely ignored throughout the 1920s, and drinking continued at a high level. Producing, importing and distributing alcohol was quickly taken over by private individuals and criminal gangs. Enforcement was almost impossible.There was massive corruption among public officials and the police. Coastguards were not paid generously, so were open to bribery and the sheer length of the US borders made stopping the importation and transportation of alcohol a pointless task (e.
g. ‘Rum Row’). Treasury Agents were in charge of enforcements, yet there were only 3000 agents as it was thought the USA wanted Prohibition so would obey the law and Treasury Agents were too open to bribery from the billion dollar bootlegging industry - the Untouchables were the only enforcement not open to corruption.The Volstead Act was a key factor in the growth of organised crime.
Although there was already crime in the US, Prohibition created mass avoidance of a law by ordinary people who would not ordinarily break the law, and gave criminal gangs power and support. The production, distribution and selling of alcohol handed criminals the opportunity to control a huge multi- million dollar industry. Alcohol was also closely linked with gambling and prostitution - which were additionally controlled by criminal gangs.The first of the big new criminal organisations to seize the business opportunities provided by the Volstead Act was the Torrio - Capone gang, ‘the Chicago Outfit’, of Chicago. Because these criminal gangs could not rely on the police or courts to protect their business dealings , they needed their own enforcers to fight off rival gangs and to intimidate the operators of hotels and speakeasies. Gang related killings became weekly occurrences which tended to lead to shocking newspaper coverage.
Al Capone, especially, was always in the news and was seen as a working-class folk hero.This effectively made murderers into national celebrities. The St Valentine’s Day Massacre was a carefully planned ambush by Al Capone, although Capone himself was clever enough to be away in Florida at the time of the massacre. The Moran gang were lured to a garage on a promise a consignment of whisky, where Capone’s men arrived dressed as police officers and shot six of Moran’s gang and an innocent bystander. Moran’s gang was badly weakened and it never recovered his grip on the Chicago crime world.
The event was so sensational that it forced the polices and authorities into taking action.However, it was not only the Volstead Act that influenced American society in the 1920s. The economic boom created steady work, low prices, higher real wages and access to a vast range of new consumer goods. A lot of this was due to the strength of industry and big business, which had been stimulated in the war years. Society had been modernised and more and more American’s were living in urban areas.
Factories were fast being taken over by mass production which made once luxury products cheap and available to everyone.The most significant example of this is the Model T - the first cheap, mass produced car. Model T represents a turning point in American industry, mobility was taken to the masses which had never been done before. Industry was transforming the lives of Americans. Radio spread rapidly, bringing news, sport, light entertainment and advertising into every home.
It was realised that radio could be a useful political tool too. The 1920s was also the golden age of silent cinema, with the emergence of Hollywood as the ‘dream factory’ and a new obsession with films stars as celebrities.It was also the decade of the New Woman. As well as the right to vote, women (mostly those living in urban areas) gained new social freedoms. Fashion, advertising and the growth of the retail industry had a big image on the roles of woman.
New household appliances began to change the face of domestic life, the increasing availability of electrical appliances such as washing machines, electric irons, electric water heaters and dishwashers promised to liberate millions of women from lives of drudgery.Many advertisements depicted women as going out and enjoying themselves while their appliances did their work for them. Overall, although the Volstead Act influenced organised crime in the 1920s, the social prosperity that thrived throughout the USA came from the benefits of the economic boom. However, the impact of Volstead Act - and therefore organised crime - was significant because it blurred the boundaries between crime and decent society. Huge number of law-abiding people continued to drink illegally.
Respect for the law was lessoned. Tabitha Thompson
