Political: Prohibitionists overlooked the American tradition of strong drink and forgot that the federal authorities had never satisfactorily enforced a law where the majority of people were hostile to it. Hypocritical legislators spoke or voted against alcohol while privately drinking.
Social: Prohibition of alcohol was popular in the South, where southern whites were eager to keep the stimulant out of the hands of blacks, and in the west it was an attack on all the vices: public drunkenness, prostitution, corruption, and crime. However, thousands of speakeasies, or illegal alcohol establishments, began to flourish. Gangsters and bootleggers fought vicious wars for control of the bootlegging industry, such as Al Capone
Economic: The bootlegging industry began to flourish, with an annual take of the underworld estimated to be up to 18 billion dollars. However, Prohibition was not entirely a failure. Bank savings increased.
Social: Prohibition of alcohol was popular in the South, where southern whites were eager to keep the stimulant out of the hands of blacks, and in the west it was an attack on all the vices: public drunkenness, prostitution, corruption, and crime. However, thousands of speakeasies, or illegal alcohol establishments, began to flourish. Gangsters and bootleggers fought vicious wars for control of the bootlegging industry, such as Al Capone
Economic: The bootlegging industry began to flourish, with an annual take of the underworld estimated to be up to 18 billion dollars. However, Prohibition was not entirely a failure. Bank savings increased.