PROHIBITION & THE GREAT DEPRESSION

In the summer of 1929, the American economy experienced an ordinary recession. In late 1929, the stock market crashed, Wall Street fell apart, and bankrupt investors jumped out of windows to end their lives. In December 1931, New York's Bank of the United States, the fourth largest bank in the country, collapsed. The bank had over $200 million in deposits at the time, making it the largest single bank failure in American history. The Great Depression rocked the country and devastated Black communities such as Harlem for a decade. By 1933, over 15 million Americans had lost their jobs. This period of worldwide economic downtown lasted until 1939.

Disposal of illegal ‘bootlegged’ alcohol during the Prohibition Era.

Prohibition was an era in the U.S. that began in January of 1919 and lasted until 1933. During those 13 years, the 18th Amendment banned the production, importation, and selling of alcoholic beverages. With the rise of “bathtub gin”, the government found it difficult to enforce the 18th Amendment and speakeasies became common across the nation. One of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential campaign platforms included the repeal of Prohibition because he believed that legalizing alcohol would play a role in the nation’s economic recovery.