How far did Prohibition fail to achieve its aims in the United States during the 1920s? Explain your answer. [40]

This question asks you to evaluate how far Prohibition failed to achieve its aims in the United States during the 1920s. You must consider both the failures and any successes, then reach a supported judgement.

Arguments that Prohibition failed:

• The 18th Amendment (1920) and the Volstead Act aimed to eliminate alcohol consumption, reduce crime, and improve public morality. Instead, illegal drinking became widespread. Speakeasies (illegal bars) proliferated, with an estimated 30,000 operating in New York City alone by the mid-1920s.
• Organised crime expanded enormously to control the illegal liquor trade. Gangsters like Al Capone in Chicago earned millions of dollars from bootlegging and used violence to protect their operations. The St Valentine's Day Massacre (1929) symbolised the brutality of bootlegging wars.
• Corruption spread through police forces, local government, and even federal agencies. Officials accepted bribes to ignore illegal activity, undermining public trust in law enforcement and government.
• The Bureau of Prohibition was chronically underfunded, with only around 1,500 agents to enforce the law across the entire country. Effective enforcement was impossible with such limited resources.
• Moonshine production flourished in rural areas, and smuggling across the Canadian border and along the coastline proved almost impossible to stop. Homemade alcohol was often dangerous, causing illness and death.
• Rather than reducing crime, Prohibition increased it. It created an entirely new category of criminal activity and enriched organised crime networks that persisted long after repeal.

Arguments that Prohibition had some successes:

• Alcohol consumption did initially fall, perhaps by as much as 30 percent in the early years of enforcement. Drinking did not simply continue at pre-Prohibition levels.
• Hospital admissions for alcohol-related illness declined, and deaths from cirrhosis of the liver fell in the early 1920s.
• Some rural and small-town communities did see genuine reductions in drinking and associated social problems such as domestic violence and workplace absenteeism.
• The temperance movement's moral message resonated with many Americans, particularly in the South and Midwest, where religious conviction supported abstinence. Not all Americans opposed Prohibition.

Reaching a conclusion:

Prohibition largely failed because it could not be effectively enforced and created more problems than it solved. The rise of organised crime, widespread corruption, and the persistence of illegal drinking demonstrated that banning alcohol in a society where many people wished to drink was unworkable. Its repeal by the 21st Amendment in 1933 acknowledged this failure. However, describing it as a complete failure overlooks the initial reduction in consumption and the genuine support it enjoyed in parts of American society.

Mark scheme guidance: Level 5 answers (33-40 marks) will evaluate Prohibition against its stated aims (eliminating alcohol, reducing crime, improving morality) and show that it failed on all three counts while creating new problems. The strongest answers will also acknowledge the limited areas of success to demonstrate balanced analysis, rather than simply condemning Prohibition without nuance.