What is Prohibition?
•    Prohibition is the action of forbidding something.
•    In America’s case the 18th amendment stated that all alcohol, manufacturing, import and sale of alcoholic beverages was banned; which lasted from 1920 to 1933.
•    The 18th amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919 and went to effect on January 16, 1920.
•    The enforces of the law didn’t do much at first for example in 1925, in only New York City there were about 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs, and this was seen in cities around the country.
•    Prohibition was successful with reducing alcohol consumption but ended up hurting the economy at the same time, due to the loss of jobs in the alcohol industry.
•    Prohibition was supposed to reduce crime and taxes.
•    Whiskey was prescribed by doctors, but after a while they freely wrote prescriptions.

NASCAR?
•    Since there were so many people consuming alcohol illegally, they had to have fast cars in order to lose the cops.
•    The alcohol consumers were starting to build faster engines so they wouldn’t get caught.
•    After a while the drivers delivering the bootleg spirits started a rivalry to see which driver was faster.
•    Racing grew and grew to see who was faster, which turned into NASCAR.

Volstead Act
•    Another name for Prohibition.
•    Named Republican in the House of Representatives, Andrew Volstead, who created the National Prohibition act that was passed in 1919.
•    Because this act, gangsterism was developed; all the money would go to them.
•    Men would go out and spend all their money on alcohol, leaving the women with no money to provide their children.
•    Volstead failed to get reelected in 1922.

Al Capone
•    Jan. 17 , 1899 to Jan 25,1947
•    Started in New York, became very notorious in Chicago.
•    Grew up in Brooklyn, New York
•    Was in a teenage gang call Five Points gang in which he met Frankie Yale, a mobster boss.
•    Worked around Frankie Yale, learning about how to manage an illegal empire.
•    Capone opened speakeasies, brothels and gambling houses in Chicago.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/ Prohibition video

Sources:
•    Prohibition. 2011. Jennifer Rosenberg. September 30, 2011.http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm
•    Prohibition in the United States. 2005. 1920-30.com. September 30, 2011.http://www.1920-30.com/prohibition/
•    Al Capone. 2011. Jennifer Rosenberg. September 30, 2011 http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/Al-Capone.htm
•    Volstead Act. September 30, 2011http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1086.html
•    Volstead Act. September 30, 2011 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAvolstead.htm