Concept of Prohibition Term Paper

Prohibition in America and Why it Failed

To understand why prohibition failed, one must understand what it was meant to accomplish. Prohibition was not a plan to rid the United States of alcohol, but rather a movement to reform what was seen as a gradual moral decline of the country as a whole. The temperance movement had been alive and well in the U.S. from the days of the firsts American Colonies. Even the Puritans drank alcohol, considering it to be necessary to life, and not only in a medicinal manner. But alcohol was believed to be something that should only be used in moderation, and anyone who was felt to drink too much was considered to be morally corrupt and usually became an outcast in their community for their moral failing.The earliest laws surrounding the use and sale of alcohol were meant to control the use of liquor, but as rules and feelings about any use of liquor became more and more stringent, the country saw the establishment of illegal drinking parlors called "speakeasies" where people could drink to their fill. Prohibition eventually….....