Ken Burns's documentary on Prohibition aired this week on PBS. With three episodes spanning five and half hours, Burns covers a fascinating period of American history that led to many changes in the country, some welcome and some ridiculous. Most ridiculous of all though was the notion that the government could ban alcohol and expect the populace to uphold the law.
In Episode 1, A Nation of Drunkards, Burns outlines the series of events that led to the rumblings of Prohibition. In the early 19th century, Americans drank three times more alcohol than they do today, and drinking was an activity ingrained in a family's daily routine. Farming families kept a barrel of cider by the door so that men could have a mug of cider the minute they came back from a hard day of work, and having a glass of beer at breakfast was normal. Of course, cider and beer did not have a very high alcohol content and were regarded as healthy beverages, providing sustenance for the hard working American. However, the advent of rum and whiskey that could easily be distilled from the grain that grew plentifully across the country rapidly changed things. People were still drinking as much as they had before, but they didn't realize that their drinks now contained substantially more alcohol. Soon alcoholism was rampant, saloons were found on every street corner, and inebriate asylums were packed with people who had succumbed to the ravages of alcoholism.
Interestingly, women played a hugely important role in getting the Prohibition movement started. Women and children were the ones who suffered greatly during this time of drinking excess because they relied on the men of the household to provide for them. Instead, the men would spend all the household income in the saloons, and return home intoxicated. Incidents of domestic violence became all too commonplace, and organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union sprang up in response. For the first time in American history, women came out in full force, marching hand-in-hand on the streets and demonstrating in front of jeering men in the saloons. The Temperance movement was entwined with the Suffrage movement and women's increased involvement in politics actually propelled them to winning the right to vote in 1920.
Unfortunately the Temperance movement, which initially just wanted people to drink less, turned into the Prohibition movement that demanded a complete nationwide ban on alcohol and a constitutional amendment. Episode 2, A Nation of Scofflaws, focuses on the early years of Prohibition and the Volstead Act, the actual law that upheld the ban on alcohol. Even though scores of people had voted for the ban, they hadn't realised the full extent of the law. Most people had assumed beer and wine would still be allowed, but instead the Volstead Act forbade anything that contained more than "one-half of one percent of alcohol." According to Burns, this would have made a Black Forest cake illegal. As it dawned on people that they couldn't enjoy a drink any more, a variety of people developed ingenious methods of smuggling in alcohol or brewing it, and the bootlegging business was born. Over the course of Prohibition, doctors wrote over six million prescriptions for alcohol (which was considered a treatment for various ailments), and religious organizations that were allowed to serve sacramental wine found their numbers swelling.
The last episode, A Nation of Hypocrites, focuses on the birth of organized crime, especially Al Capone in Chicago and various mobsters in New York, and reveals just how much Prohibition created the gang violence and mob mentality that plagues the country even today. Small-time criminals became rich and powerful from providing alcohol to the thirsty masses and police corruption and political favors ensured that no one was arrested or convicted for their escalating crimes. In the midst of all this, the Jazz Age was born, an era where the flapper came into being and women were vastly freer than in previous years. Speakeasys dotted the landscape in all big cities and in places like Harlem, black and white patrons freely mingled, racial barriers being temporarily forgotten in the all-important quest for a drink.
Ultimately Prohibition didn't stand a chance. It was too extreme and tried to impose a narrow view of morality en masse to a public that wasn't willing to accept it. This documentary offers an illuminating and oftentimes surprising glimpse at the America of yesteryear and there are some striking economic and political parallels to present-day America. The episodes are also crafted beautifully with striking photos and films of the time period and a host of stories about some remarkable men and women who should have never been forgotten. There are a lot of quotes from these men and women narrated by some well-known actors and actresses and a fun past time while watching is to see if you can recognize the voices of Tom Hanks, Patricia Clarkson, Samuel L. Jackson, etc.
The episodes are still available on PBS's website, so head on over and treat yourself to a documentary that achieves the impossible: it teaches you about an important period of history, and makes you enjoy every minute.
In Episode 1, A Nation of Drunkards, Burns outlines the series of events that led to the rumblings of Prohibition. In the early 19th century, Americans drank three times more alcohol than they do today, and drinking was an activity ingrained in a family's daily routine. Farming families kept a barrel of cider by the door so that men could have a mug of cider the minute they came back from a hard day of work, and having a glass of beer at breakfast was normal. Of course, cider and beer did not have a very high alcohol content and were regarded as healthy beverages, providing sustenance for the hard working American. However, the advent of rum and whiskey that could easily be distilled from the grain that grew plentifully across the country rapidly changed things. People were still drinking as much as they had before, but they didn't realize that their drinks now contained substantially more alcohol. Soon alcoholism was rampant, saloons were found on every street corner, and inebriate asylums were packed with people who had succumbed to the ravages of alcoholism.
Interestingly, women played a hugely important role in getting the Prohibition movement started. Women and children were the ones who suffered greatly during this time of drinking excess because they relied on the men of the household to provide for them. Instead, the men would spend all the household income in the saloons, and return home intoxicated. Incidents of domestic violence became all too commonplace, and organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union sprang up in response. For the first time in American history, women came out in full force, marching hand-in-hand on the streets and demonstrating in front of jeering men in the saloons. The Temperance movement was entwined with the Suffrage movement and women's increased involvement in politics actually propelled them to winning the right to vote in 1920.
Unfortunately the Temperance movement, which initially just wanted people to drink less, turned into the Prohibition movement that demanded a complete nationwide ban on alcohol and a constitutional amendment. Episode 2, A Nation of Scofflaws, focuses on the early years of Prohibition and the Volstead Act, the actual law that upheld the ban on alcohol. Even though scores of people had voted for the ban, they hadn't realised the full extent of the law. Most people had assumed beer and wine would still be allowed, but instead the Volstead Act forbade anything that contained more than "one-half of one percent of alcohol." According to Burns, this would have made a Black Forest cake illegal. As it dawned on people that they couldn't enjoy a drink any more, a variety of people developed ingenious methods of smuggling in alcohol or brewing it, and the bootlegging business was born. Over the course of Prohibition, doctors wrote over six million prescriptions for alcohol (which was considered a treatment for various ailments), and religious organizations that were allowed to serve sacramental wine found their numbers swelling.
The last episode, A Nation of Hypocrites, focuses on the birth of organized crime, especially Al Capone in Chicago and various mobsters in New York, and reveals just how much Prohibition created the gang violence and mob mentality that plagues the country even today. Small-time criminals became rich and powerful from providing alcohol to the thirsty masses and police corruption and political favors ensured that no one was arrested or convicted for their escalating crimes. In the midst of all this, the Jazz Age was born, an era where the flapper came into being and women were vastly freer than in previous years. Speakeasys dotted the landscape in all big cities and in places like Harlem, black and white patrons freely mingled, racial barriers being temporarily forgotten in the all-important quest for a drink.
Ultimately Prohibition didn't stand a chance. It was too extreme and tried to impose a narrow view of morality en masse to a public that wasn't willing to accept it. This documentary offers an illuminating and oftentimes surprising glimpse at the America of yesteryear and there are some striking economic and political parallels to present-day America. The episodes are also crafted beautifully with striking photos and films of the time period and a host of stories about some remarkable men and women who should have never been forgotten. There are a lot of quotes from these men and women narrated by some well-known actors and actresses and a fun past time while watching is to see if you can recognize the voices of Tom Hanks, Patricia Clarkson, Samuel L. Jackson, etc.
The episodes are still available on PBS's website, so head on over and treat yourself to a documentary that achieves the impossible: it teaches you about an important period of history, and makes you enjoy every minute.
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