In conclusion, prohibition was thirteen years that damaged America. While the plan, was to eliminate drinking alcohol completely in order to limit crime, many citizens had other plans. Drinking rates did not decrease as the government thought that they would. Instead, they exploded. Many drinkers lost their nerve when they lost their right to drink, and almost as if getting revenge on government, they started to drink more. Also, being harder to obtain, the liquor cravings of the citizens only continued to grow.
Illegal activity and crimes were not cut down at all. They increased just as much. Bootleggers smuggling liquor from places such as Canada and overseas became very popular, and the bootleggers who were taking these risks became very wealthy. As minor petty crimes did go down, as prohibition aimed it to be, larger crimes such as murder and theft rose. Many gangs who had a share of the illegal liquor buyers during prohibition often fought for their clients. The black market also opened many liquor smuggling opportunities for people who wanted a drink. In the black market, violence was not unheard of as sellers battled for shares of the market.
Many people just disobeyed prohibition through their doctor. They would fake an injury, which would need a prescription of medicinal alcohol. Then, the "patient" would take the medicinal alcohol and drink it.
Overall, prohibition was a failed attempt at outlawing liquor. All the goals of this amendment were not reached, instead, only the opposite occurred. Crime rates went soaring, and there was more illegal drinking than ever before. As great as the intentions of the government might have been during prohibition, they failed. Those were thirteen years that rattled Americans, and thirteen mistaken ones to be remembered throughout history.
