The American Prohibition Era

American Prohibition ran from 1920 to 1933. It was an attempt to shape society and move it away from what many advocates said was a curse – the consumption of  alcohol. But all it did was shape society in a way they never intended. People lost good jobs when distilleries and breweries were shut down. The American government actually lost $11 billion in revenue from the alcohol trade. And it spent nearly $400 million trying to fight with people still wanted to do – drink alcohol. Speakeasies sprung up in towns and cities across America where people could drink illegal liquor. And the crime rates rose tremendously as gangsters found they could make millions and millions of dollars providing that alcohol. Al Capone made more than $60 million a year just in Chicago alone. And when you have that kind of money up for grabs to the strongest and most ruthless, you get events like infamous The St. Valentine’s Day massacre where six of the Bugs Moran gang and a mechanic were shot to death using weapons that included the ‘tommy gun’, the first sub machine gun. A weapon of war was being used in a feud over crime turf.

Another bad side effect of prohibition was the increase in ‘bath tub gin’ and homemade moonshine that resulted in thousands of people dying from alcohol poisoning. And despite the fact they were warned, people were so eager to get a drink they were willing to go blind or lose their life for a ‘good night on the town’. It proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that you could never totally stop people from drinking. But it took thousands of people dying as mobsters fought for a piece of the alcohol action, as well as a near total corruption of the legal system in the United States, for prohibition to end.

The Whiskey Empire series of novels is historical fiction and uses true events and accounts to weave a tale of the rise from poverty to immense wealth for Rocco and Besha DeLuca.