Kosinski 1Vanessa KosinskiMrs. BillingsleyEnglish 4˚March 24, 2014Prohibition: the main cause of organized crimeIn the 1920s, cities were the place to be and between 1922 and 1929, almost 2 million people left their farms and small towns each year. City life was very different from farm life and for this reason it was difficult for many people to accept the changing values ​​of the 1920s. City dwellers were more tolerant of alcohol, gambling and casual drinking – acts considered shocking and sinful in small towns. (Danzer 641) An aggressive clash between small-town and big-city Americans began in January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment, or Prohibition, took effect. Prohibition ended the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages because they were legally prohibited. (Danzer 642) Consequently, due to the provisions of the Prohibition movement, organized crime experienced a dramatic escalation in the United States in the 1920s. “The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be just a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our prisons into warehouses and daycare centers. Men will walk upright, women will smile and children will laugh. Hell will be for rent forever. Reverend Billy Sunday said this during a speech in the early days of Prohibition. Over time, Americans realized that this was far from true and that things had actually gotten worse. (Organized Crime and Prohibition) Due to Prohibition, organized crime received a major boost because it provided a product that so many Americans wanted and were willing to break the law to obtain. In the 1920s, the largest source of alcohol was organized crime. Smugglers ...... middle of paper ...... cover “Prohibition: what if? ") The lasting impact of organized crime continues in America today. Although alcohol is completely legal again, organized crime is now in the hands of drug lords who smuggle various types of illegal drugs into the United States every day. Kosinski 4 Works Cited “Al Capone”. American History. ABC-CLIO, nd Web. March 15, 2014. Danzer, Gerald A. “Chapter 21 The Roaring Life of the 1920s.” The Americans. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. 640-45. Print.Eysturlid, Lee. “Prohibition: you need to know. » American history. ABC-CLIO, nd Web. March 15, 2014.Eysturlid, Lee. “Ban: what if? : An alternative history of prohibition. » American history. ABC-CLIO, nd Web. March 23, 2014. “Organized crime and prohibition.” Organized crime and prohibition. Np, and Web. March 15. 2014.