America 1920-1973Topic Summary
Topic Summary: Prohibition, 1920–1933
Part of Prohibition — GCSE History
This topic summary covers Topic Summary: Prohibition, 1920–1933 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 15 of 15 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 15 of 15
Practice
10 questions
Recall
14 flashcards
Topic Summary: Prohibition, 1920–1933
Key Terms
- Prohibition: 1920-1933 ban on manufacture and sale of alcohol (18th Amendment)
- Bootlegging: Illegal manufacture/sale of alcohol during Prohibition — $2 billion industry
- Speakeasy: Secret illegal bar; 30,000 in NYC alone — more than legal bars before Prohibition
- 18th Amendment (1920): Introduced Prohibition
- 21st Amendment (1933): Repealed Prohibition — the ONLY amendment ever undone
Key Dates
- 17 Jan 1920: Prohibition begins (18th Amendment takes effect)
- 1920s: Al Capone builds bootlegging empire ($60m/year)
- 14 Feb 1929: St Valentine's Day Massacre — 7 men machine-gunned by Capone's gang
- 1931: Capone jailed for tax evasion (not murder)
- 1933: 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition
Key People
- Al Capone: Chicago gangster; $60m/year from bootlegging; corrupted police and politicians; jailed 1931 for tax evasion
- Anti-Saloon League / WCTU: Pressure groups who campaigned for Prohibition — religious and women's groups
- Henry Ford: Supported Prohibition (wanted sober workers) — shows business backing
Must-Know Facts
- 18th Amendment (1920) — banned alcohol
- 30,000 speakeasies in NYC alone
- Al Capone: $60 million/year from bootlegging
- Only 1,500 Prohibition agents — 1 in 12 fired for corruption
- 227 gangland murders in Chicago 1927-30; 0 convictions
- 21st Amendment (1933) — only amendment ever repealed
- NOBLE: Noble intention, Organised crime, Bootlegging, Lawbreaking, Enforcement failure
Cross-Topic Links
- → Topic 9 (Intolerance): Prohibition was partly about cultural control — rural Protestant WASPs using the law to impose their values on Catholic immigrant communities; this is the same WASP vs. "outsider" dynamic driving the KKK and immigration restrictions.
- → Topic 5 (Life Changes): The speakeasy culture (30,000 in NYC alone) thrived because radio and cinema had created a modern, pleasure-seeking consumer culture that rejected Victorian moral codes — consumer modernity and Prohibition were in direct conflict.
- → Topic 7 (Women in the 1920s): Flappers' open drinking in speakeasies was a deliberate act of defiance against both gender expectations and Prohibition, linking women's changing social freedoms directly to the failure of the "Noble Experiment."
- → Topic 10 (Causes of Depression): Prohibition's repeal in 1933 was partly an economic decision — the Depression showed that taxing legal alcohol could raise desperately needed government revenue, illustrating how the economic crisis changed social policy.
- → Topic 3 (America in 1920): Prohibition passed because it briefly united diverse groups (temperance campaigners, women's groups, anti-German feeling from WW1, business interests) — showing how 1920s America's social tensions could be channelled into legislation with unintended consequences.