Manslaughter?
3/8/1922
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The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors was rationed January 16, 1919 and took effect a year later. Bootleggers prospered as the demand for alcoholic beverages soared and the quality of bootlegged liquor could not be assured. In this cartoon, cartoonist Clifford Berryman uses his familiar character Mr. DC in the role of prosecutor, holding up a bottle labeled "poison" in front of a jury. At the same time he points to a box marked "pure whisky." A concerned bootlegger looks on as government studies indicated that poison was found in 98% of bootleg whisky.
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The argument that alcohol causes crime was turned on its head during Prohibition. Gangsters supplied speakeasies with smuggled booze, and violence escalated. Illegal bootlegging of liquor became commonplace, and without governmental oversight, the safety of bootlegged whiskey was questionable.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
National Archives Identifier: 6011715
Full Citation: Manslaughter?; 3/8/1922; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/manslaughter, March 29, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.