This memory aid covers Memory Aid: Prohibition within Prohibition for GCSE History. Revise Prohibition in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 14 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 12 of 15 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 12 of 15
Practice
10 questions
Recall
14 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aid: Prohibition
The "NOBLE experiment — NASTY results" framework:
- N — Noble intention (reduce poverty, crime, immorality)
- O — Organised crime created (Capone, $60m/year, gang wars)
- B — Bootlegging industry ($2 billion illegal economy)
- L — Law-breaking became normal (30,000 speakeasies in NYC)
- E — Enforcement impossible (only 1,500 agents; 1 in 12 corrupt)
Key statistics to know cold:
- 30,000 — speakeasies in New York City alone
- $60 million — Al Capone's annual income from bootlegging
- 1,500 — Prohibition agents for the entire country (hopelessly inadequate)
- 1 in 12 — agents fired for corruption
- 227 — gangland murders in Chicago 1927-30 (0 convictions)
- 1933 — 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition — the only amendment ever undone
The "only Amendment ever repealed" fact: This is your single strongest piece of evidence that Prohibition failed. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times. Only ONCE has an amendment been undone — the 18th Amendment. America officially admitted it had made a mistake. Always use this in your conclusion.
The Capone quote: "Prohibition is a business. All I do is supply a public demand." — This quote is perfect for exam answers because it comes directly from the man who most benefited from Prohibition. It shows that Capone understood exactly why Prohibition failed: it created a business opportunity by banning something people still wanted.