Podcast: Poisoning the Well
From: American History Tellers
Link: https://art19.com/shows/american-history-tellers/episodes/8bcd987e-d0e6-4d1a-a47e-1f42826797cc
Summary: There was a significant pushback against prohibition by the late 1920s. The mafia gained a lot of power and influence through illegal importing and brewing and the KKK was reborn through the anti-immigrant sphere of the prohibition movement. Bootleg liquor was dangerous and became more so as government regulations on industrial alcohol became more strict.
The prohibition platform really hurt Hoover and the Republican agenda and by the late 1920’s as many Americans were drinking alcohol as before prohibition.
This is part 5 of the series but the first one I listened to since starting this blog.
My thoughts: The coalition that pushed for prohibition was a super interesting mix of Puritanical Morality groups (for obvious reasons), Women’s Right groups (Drunk husbands were extremely dangerous to their wives and children), and Anti Immigrant groups (Saloons were populated by immigrants in many large cities).
This is also one of the best examples of some well intentioned people making a law that ended up seemingly making everything worse.
