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Prohibition Essay

Decent Essays

Prohibition

The success of the prohibition movement can be seen from many different views. It was measured by the prohibitionists many motives, their social make-up, their creative reasons they came up with to promote their cause, and the positive outcomes they imagined possible by prohibiting alcohol consumption.
The prohibitionists had several motives for letting loose their concern of alcohol. The main issue discussed, using the example of the average middle-class citizen, was the aspect of growing children and the effect of alcohol on the family. Facts show that children with parents that have major drinking problems are more “defective” than children with parents that …show more content…

I). By doing this, you have the worshipers on your side. This was quite effective, given the ratio of religious people to non-religious people during this time period. Through time, the prohibition movement gained more followers from a wider variety of backgrounds. With their ways of luring the different types of people in, they gain understanding from that particular group, and therefore getting more of those on your side. This is generally how the prohibition movement gained power over time.
As previously mentioned, the prohibitionists had many creative ways of grabbing the attention of these different people. The way they related their cause directly to progressivism wasn’t too hard; and luckily, it was easy to base it all on fact. By mentioning everything bad alcohol can do to someone, it is easy to bring about the statement that a sober society is the best way to progress. As mentioned in document E, prohibition was stated as “a theory of proper social life.” This is a perfect example of how these people manipulated America’s majority to pass this 18th amendment. They also related prohibition to city life, by saying that saloons interfere with industrial life and working (doc. D). Saloons are mentioned as a bad wall separating men from work, and should be taken out of the industrial picture.
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