dOCUMENTS for use on the dbq
dOCUMENT a
Will rogers, Entertainer, On Prohibition. Year Unkown.
"Prohibition is better than no liquor at all."
DOCUMENT b
A Political Cartoon arguing for Prohibition. "The evils of booze, Ohio prohibition campaign cartoon. Unknown year. " Source: Ohio State University.
Document c
A graph of all the arrests under the Volstead act (1919).
Source: U.S. Treasury Department, Bureau of Industrial Alcohol; Statistics Concerning Intoxicating Liquors, December, 1930.
Source: U.S. Treasury Department, Bureau of Industrial Alcohol; Statistics Concerning Intoxicating Liquors, December, 1930.
Document D
Reverend Billy Sunday, discussing the intended outcome of prohibition in one of his many speeches on the topic. (1920)
"The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile and children will laugh. Hell will be forever for rent."
dOCUMENT E
The New York Times, article Drink and Crime on January 8, 1920
“In Chicago a bare six months of prohibition has raised the total of crime, figured for the entire
year, more than 25 per cent. The reason given by the Crimes Commission is illuminating. In
Chicago crime. “is not due to poverty or hard times. Crime is a business here.”
year, more than 25 per cent. The reason given by the Crimes Commission is illuminating. In
Chicago crime. “is not due to poverty or hard times. Crime is a business here.”
Document F
Description of events when Willian H. Thompson entered a pool hall. year- Roughly 1925.
"Vaulting the counter Kinky sapped the cook. When the waiter protested, Kinky bludgeoned
him to the floor. Kinky then demanded to know the location of the joint's liquor cache. When
the owner said there was no cache, Thompson broke a bottle over the owner's head, cutting
him severely. Then Kinky and Corwin set to work with axes demolishing cash registers, coffee
urns, light fixtures, pool tables, even the long wooden counter. When they finished the floor
was littered with meat and flour, cigars and candy, and the remains of a crate of eggs. Only a
ventilation fan and a clock on the wall continued to turn, and these the agents destroyed with
cue balls thrown like grenades."
him to the floor. Kinky then demanded to know the location of the joint's liquor cache. When
the owner said there was no cache, Thompson broke a bottle over the owner's head, cutting
him severely. Then Kinky and Corwin set to work with axes demolishing cash registers, coffee
urns, light fixtures, pool tables, even the long wooden counter. When they finished the floor
was littered with meat and flour, cigars and candy, and the remains of a crate of eggs. Only a
ventilation fan and a clock on the wall continued to turn, and these the agents destroyed with
cue balls thrown like grenades."
Document G
Felix. graf van Luckner, a visitor to America during Prohibition. Year- 1927.
"Prohibition has created a new, universally respected, a well-beloved, and a very profitable
occupation, that of the bootlegger who takes care of the importation of the forbidden liquor.
Everyone knows this, even the powers of the government. But this profession is beloved
because it is essential, and it is respected because its pursuit is clothed with an element of
danger and with a sporting risk. Now and then one is caught, that must happen pro forma and
then he must do time or, if he is wealthy enough, get someone to do time for him.“
occupation, that of the bootlegger who takes care of the importation of the forbidden liquor.
Everyone knows this, even the powers of the government. But this profession is beloved
because it is essential, and it is respected because its pursuit is clothed with an element of
danger and with a sporting risk. Now and then one is caught, that must happen pro forma and
then he must do time or, if he is wealthy enough, get someone to do time for him.“
Document H
A quote from a campaign speech given by Herbert Hoover in 1928.
“Our country has deliberately undertaken a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.”
Document I
A quote from a Chicago Tribune article circa 1929
"These murders went out of the comprehension of a civilized city...The butchering of seven men by open daylight raises this question for Chicago: Is it helpless?"
Document j
A man known only as “Callano” to unknown reporter. 1930. This is an example of the reach prohibition had. People who otherwise wouldn't have been able to work found profit in bootlegging.
“I wasn't cut out to work steady. That was during Prohibition and all the boys was running booze. My brothers, the older ones, had a gang bootlegging. They had a bunch of big old Packards and Caddies. I went in with 'em and we made plenty dough.”
Document K
A quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the repeal of the Prohibition laws. in 1933
"What America needs now is a drink"
Document L
A Political Cartoon by Dr. Seuss. 1942.