A ICap oneandthebootleggers
In19 19 theAmericanpeoplevoted in favorofJ
newamendmenttotheConsriru rio n.T he Eig ht-
ccnth Amendment proh ibited rh c making o r
sellingofalco ho licd rinks in theU nited States.
People who supported "pro hibition" claim ed
th atit wouldstopalcoholism and drunkenness
and make the UnitedStares ahealth ier. happier
country.
ButnunyAmericans were not willing tog iveup
alcoholic d rin ks. Millio ns began to br eak the
pr ohi bition lawdeliberate lyand reg ularly.JIIeg al
drin king p laces called "speakeasies ' o pened in
basementsand backrooms alloverth e cou nt r y.
T hecit yo fChicago had 10,000ofth em. New
York had 32.000.
Speakeasiesobtained thei r alcoholicdrinks fro m
crim inals called "boodeggers." Boork-ggers
workedtogetherIIIgangs o r "mobs." T hebest-
known mob was one in Ch icago led by the
gangster.. Scarface.. AlCapo n e.
Bo otlegging w as a dang ero u s business. COTll-
petition bet we en riv al mobssometimes cau sed
b loody stree twars.fought o utwitharmored cars
and machin eguns.T he winne rsofth e gangster
w arsbecamerich andpowerful. TIleyused thei r
w ealthto bribepolice and o ther publi cofficialsto
do nothingabouttheirlaw-breaking .AIC apo n e
became the real rulerofC hicao. He had a private
armyofnearlya tho usand thugsequippedw ith
machineguns.Hisincome wasover 100 millio n
dollars a year.
Byrhcendo fthe1920smostAmericansregarded
prohibition as halfscanda l. halfjoke. Thed is-
['r"hibjri,,,, .A(~rif"lIrp,,~rJph"l<>gr~ph,1101I'ingfrdrr~1~g",ts
rx~",i"i".~,,, ,,,r'?frllrboult'Sojliq""rthryh~l'rdiuo,'rrrJhidJrni"
a(~I,Ir,"""in....'ru·}'""kharber.h on est y and corrup tionwhichgrewwith it made
th emlosetheirres pectbothforth elawand fo rthe
peoplewhow ere supposedto enfo rceit. Prohib-
it io n wasfinally g iven up III 1933. But ith ad
done th eUnitedStateslasting harm.Itmadelaw -
breakinga habitfor many otherwise respectab le
American s. And gangsters rem ain ed po w er ful.
Man y used the mOlleyth eyhadm ad e asb o otl eg-
geTSto setupothercrim inalbusinesses.95