Mr. Sas'

Part I. The Path to Prohibition

1. What is the purpose, or appeal, of this poster, and of this picture? 

    Why do you think women were at the forefront of the temperance movement?

2. Look at these testimonies (1 & 2) of different mayors and city official in some of the country's most prominent cities in towns.

    What types of crimes were reduced as a result of alcohol prohibition?

3. Compare the maps detailing the extent of prohibition state-by-state in 1915, 1918, and 1919.

    What trends do you notice, especially concerning the states containing major cities and  the states with larger populations?

    Do you think Prohibition was strongly supported in big cities such as New York and Chicago?

4. What does this editorial cartoon indicate about alcohol and its effects on society? 

    How would the prohibition of alcohol affect these social problems? 

5. Check out the front page of "The American Issue" published shortly after the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment.

    What was the attitude of the paper towards Prohibition?

    Do you think that the speed in which Prohibition was ratified led to any disillusions over the reality that alcohol consumption would continue?

6. What was the big debate concerning the Vostead Act and the Fourth Amendment?

    Do you feel that giving up certain civil liberties is necesarry to enforce such laws as prohibition?

Part II. The Emergence of the Bootleggers 

Read the story, Grandpa was a Bootlegger and answer the following questions: 

1.  How did the author's grandfather make money to support his family?

2. Why did the police throw the author's grandfather in jail for an entire year when the only thing he was charged with was stealing less than $5 worth of gas?

3. What kind of people were on the grandfather's list of customers?

4. What indications does the author give to the idea that her grandfather operated a speakeasy out of his basement?

5. Was the grandfather a hardened criminal, or does he sound like a pretty average guy? Who attended his funeral? 

What is the purpose of this cartoon?

Why do you think that Johnson City is walking away with the title, "wickedest city title"?

What does this cartoon say about the relationship between big cities like Chicago and small rural towns and cities, such as Johnson City?

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Part III. The Speakeasy and Nightclub Culture

 Go to this website and look at the collection of photos featuring the illegal nightclub culture of the Prohibition Era. Answer the following questions:

1. In examining these pictures, what role do you think women played in this illegal culture?

Do you think that speakeasies and nightclubs had a positive impact on women's liberation? 

2. Do you think that a lot of people went to speakeasies? Look at the first picture which is of Connie's Inn. Do you think that places such as these attracted people from the upper classes? What is it in this picture that leads you to believe this?

3. What sort of business are the police raiding in the second to last photo? Do you think that this was the typical type of business that concealed illegal bars and nightclubs?