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In the early 1900’s, a movement against alcohol began. The prohibition movement
traveled from state to state claiming that it would help women and children. It would help
women and children by protecting them from the drunken men. These ideas spread throughout
the United States and soon, one by one the states went dry. Michigan went dry in January of
1919 and it was the sixteenth state to do so. Michigan went dry along with the states:
Mississippi, Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, South Carolina, South Dakota, North
Dakota, Maryland, Montana, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida (Michigan For
Dry Plan). Therefore, Detroit became one of the first major cities to go dry. With these changes
in society came changes in the people. The women began to drastically change and rebel against
their parents and crime became more common due to prohibition.
Figure 1: The New York Times Article: Michigan For Dry Plan
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Prohibition became nationwide with the passage of the eighteenth amendment that
banned making, selling, and transferring liquor in the United States. To clarify what was
considered to be illegal liquor in the United States, congress passed the Volstead Act. The
Volstead Act said that illegal liquor was any intoxicating liquor that contained more than 0.5
percent of alcohol (Visions of America, 633).
Furthermore, prohibition brought on illegal behavior involving alcohol which showed the
common disrespect for the new amendment. Across the United States secret bars, or
speakeasies, were formed where people could go drink. Speakeasies were somewhat similar to
saloon, but they were illegal (Visions of America, 633).
Figure 2: People at a Speakeasy. Photo from flexistentialism.org
Also, in Michigan, bootlegging became one of the more popular jobs. Because Michigan
borders Canada, bootleggers were able to easily smuggle alcohol into the United States, mainly
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through Detroit, by going across the river. However, Ontario citizens had restrictions as well to
help limit bootlegging because Ontario bordered so many American states. Ontario citizens
could not buy liquor from retail outlets but they were able to order liquor from Quebec, a
bordering Province, and have it sent to them. Therefore, Ontario laws tried to work with the
United States but there was always a loophole for smugglers and it was difficult to keep liquor
out of the northern states (Mason).
Prohibition began a change in culture in the United States. With this change in culture
came a change in different demographics. One of these main groups were woman. Throughout
the early 1900’s women had already began a social change but not one as prominent as the
twenties. Women had finally received the right to vote with the nineteenth amendment that was
passed in 1920. With this victory, women started a social change (Visions of America, 644).
Flapper women came about in the 1920’s, incidentally, during prohibition time. The
word “flapper” had been used for years before the twenties, the term was simply just a slang term
used to describe young girls. However, in the twenties the term began to be used to describe
other types of women. A “flapper” soon meant a woman that rebelled and was independent, a
woman that drank and smoked, a woman that listened to jazz music, and a woman that wore
what was considered to be revealing clothing. These women cut their hair short, wore short
skirts and make up. They rebelled against older generations and started something new for
women. Thus, with the rise of a flapper woman there was a drastic change in women (Visions of
America, 624).
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Figure 3: Flappers. Image from Mail Online, dailymail.co.uk
Before the twenties “girls had been the guardians of social virtue” (Youngs, 153). In the
twenties women changed. Before for women kissing a man was a sign of marriage, but in the
twenties women kissed men if they wanted to. This is only one sign of a change though. With
the beginnings of prohibition, women started to attend speakeasies to obtain liquor. Before
prohibition, women rarely went to saloons. But with prohibition women went to speakeasies and
drank whiskey and smoked cigarettes. These changes in women became more prominent
throughout the twenties, but the main idea was that younger women rebelled against older
generations and the restrictions those generations placed on women (Youngs, 155).
While these changes in women have several reasons, a main reason could have been
prohibition because women were going to speakeasies. And because speakeasies had jazz music
and men, women started listening to jazz and socializing with more men. The speakeasies led to
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a change in women. So did working and female reformers. These latter causes led women to
become more independent. Women being more independent could have also led to women
going to speakeasies and changing the style of clothes that they wore. Furthermore, women in
movies or advertisements could have had a part in this change. The women in movies and
advertisements wore make up and specific clothing, therefore, women in the twenties wanted to
wear makeup and specific clothing. This could be a sort of ripple effect, where more and more
women begin dressing a certain way because other women are. Women may have become more
independent because of the women they saw in movies or advertisements. And again this
independence could have led to women in the speakeasies (Visions of America). Therefore,
women changed in several ways in the twenties and for multiple reasons. Thus, it can be said
that women independence led women to speakeasies which started to create the image of a
flapper (Mennell).
Another large change in people in the twenties was the change in crime. In Michigan,
smuggling alcohol was common because of the Canadian border. Bootleggers used the river
running between Detroit and Windsor to crossover to Canada. They used speed boats that
allowed them to get to Windsor quickly and unnoticed. And when the water was frozen, the
bootleggers used their cars and drove across the ice to get to Windsor. Smuggling liquor was at
first a small scale crime; however, with the demand of more liquor, smuggling became more
high scale. Canadians took advantage of the smuggling and had the liquor prepared to be
smuggled over quickly. Even though the Canadian government did put some laws into effect to
prevent smuggling, liquor was shipped from Quebec into Ontario for smuggling. It is estimated
that in 1920 about twenty-five percent of Canadians took part in alcohol smuggling and about
900,000 cases of liquor were shipped to Ontario from Quebec (Mason).
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Although, law enforcement knew about bootleggers and smuggling, little was done to
stop them. The bootleggers paid the fine and went back to smuggling alcohol. However, both
Canada and the United States collected money from the fines. In 1920, Canada collected
$250,000 in fines from boaters caught smuggling. Furthermore, as the years went on the boats
traveling from the United States to Canada got faster, making it easier for smugglers to outrun
and law enforcement. They continued to come up with ideas like radio signals that would allow
them to stay away from law enforcement. This all made it more difficult for law enforcement to
catch or stop any bootleggers (Mason).
Figure 4: Law enforcement dumping beer overboard. Photo
from detnews.com
Criminal gangs also started to form in larger cities like Detroit. The introduction of
organized crime also made the smuggling increase. The gangs developed new ways and
organization that sped up the process of transporting the liquor. With the speedier process more
liquor was able to be transported. The gangs bribed law enforcement officials for help. Law
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enforcement officials would randomly all be sick at the same time on the same day so liquor
could be transported. Furthermore, some of the gang members were actually a part of the law
enforcement. The gangs played a major role in prohibition by allowing it to become more
serious and having the people notice (Mason).
Figure 5: The Purple Gang was a Jewish gang in Detroit during Prohibition.
Photos from randomthought.com weblog.
The amount of crime and corruption that started happening during prohibition started to
cause anti prohibition groups. Anti prohibition groups like the Constitutional Liberty League of
Massachusetts, the Modern League of New York, and the Association Against the Prohibition
Amendment were groups mainly made of men against prohibition but groups like Women’s
Organization of National Prohibition Reform also wanted the eighteenth amendment repealed.
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Many people believed that the change in women and the rise of organized crime were caused by
prohibition and wanted the amendment repealed in hopes that things would be fixed and
organized crime would cease (Kyvig).
Although the anti prohibition groups argued that the repeal of the eighteenth amendment
would protect women and children (which, consequently, was one of the reasons people argued
for prohibition) it was the Great Depression that finally ceased prohibition and repealed the
eighteenth amendment. People believed that the sale of alcohol would help the economy and
turn things around. They were all desperate for a change in the economy. However, even the
Great Depression did not immediately repeal the eighteenth amendment. The Great Depression
started in 1929, but prohibition was not stopped until 1933. In 1933, when President Franklin
Roosevelt entered office he asked congress to repeal the eighteenth amendment, and thus it was
repealed with the twenty-first amendment (Visions of America).
Prohibition was thought to save women and children from drunken men; however, many
believed that prohibition needed to end because it put women and children in danger. The
twelve year period of prohibition caused a change in American culture. Women became more
independent and the idea of the flapper came about during this time. Furthermore, organized
crime rose for the first time during prohibition. While Michigan was the sixteenth state to adopt
prohibition, making Detroit was one of the first major cities to adopt prohibition, it was also a
state and city that was affected the most due to its direct access to Canada. The prohibition era
created many changes in American culture, two of the main changes being in women and
organized crime.
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Works Cited
Keene, Jenifer D, Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O’Donnell. Visions of America. Prentice Hall,
2010.
Kyvig, David E. “Woman Against Prohibition.” American Quarterly. 28.4 (1976): 465-482.
Mason, Phillip Parker. Rumrunning and the Roaring Twenties. Wayne State University Press,
1995.
Mennell, S. J. “Prohibition: A Sociological View.” Journal of American Studies. 3 (1969): 159175.
“Michigan For Dry Plan.” New York Times. 3 Jan. 1919.
Youngs, J. William T. “Modernity Versus Tradition.” American Reality. 2 (2007): 151-179.