The Prohibition is Enacted.
The 18th Amendment, was ratified on January 16th, December, 1919, and officially started in 1920. It prohibited the use of alcohol and the production or sale of liquor. It was called the Prohibition Act. The Volstead Act, named after Andrew Volstead, clarified the 18th Amendment, and made any item related to alcohol or used in the production of alcohol illegal. A very famous gangster that made his rise to power during the Prohibition era was Al Capone, known for smuggling drugs and alcohol. Al Capone, also known as “Scarface”, smuggled bootlegged liquor into big cities, such as Chicago, and would sell it for a lot of money. The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression encouraged people to try to legalize alcohol, as it would open jobs and bring money back into the economy. Al Capone was not a poor immigrant, and came from a respectable Italian family. He claimed that any cop could be bribed, and that was how he got away with crime. He kept cool, but he would publicly kill for friends and family. He worked for Johnny Torrio, another famous lawbreaker, and would travel from city to city. John Dillinger was another famous criminal who made his rise to power in the Prohibition.Saint Paul made a deal with Al Capone and his gang, and provided protection in the city as long as he didn’t perform criminal activity in the city. But they were allowed criminal activity in Minneapolis. Gangsters performed some of the most organized crime anyone has ever seen. They would be the first example of organized crime in the United States.