Did people in the USA approve of Prohibition between the years of 1920-1933? Explain your answer.
It is difficult to determine whether politicians approved of prohibition because there are many different groups of politicians and many politicians changed their views over time. A particular group, the Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893 blamed alcohol for almost all family conflicts claiming that Alcoholic drinks were “un-American, pro-German, crime-producing, food-wasting, youth-corrupting, home-wrecking and treasonable”. In 1920 this group supported prohibition. This caused many of the major political parties who may not have approved of prohibition before, to adopt some prohibitionist policies in order to gain the votes of prohibitionists. Also many of the prohibitionists depicted politicians who failed to support prohibition as people who were supporting crime and immorality. These anti-saloon leagues were very successful in Protestant, rural areas where there was a great struggle between traditional and modern values. At around 1920, most politicians approved of prohibition. Ho...