The 1920s are usually characterized as a time of carefree social rebellion against the restrictive ideals of the post-World War I world, but they have a darker side than that. Prison populations and crime rates have risen to all-time highs compared to pre-Prohibition. The gangsters soon became the richest and most powerful men in the country and all thanks to liquor smuggling. Especially in New York and Chicago, the gangs were as diverse as the people who lived there, all fighting for control of their areas, causing insane amounts of violence and death. Although the purpose of Prohibition was to decrease drunkenness and crime, it would ultimately cause more harm than good with the emergence of speakeasies that kept people drunk and gangs that increased crime rates. The Ultimetley Prohibition, also known as the “Nobel Experiment,” was a law that did not free the United States from either crime or alcohol; one could even argue that it has worsened these two factors of American society. With the end of World War I, people began to turn their attention back to domestic issues in the United States, especially drunkenness. The average person in 1910 consumed around 1.6 liters of alcohol, which led to everything from general drunkenness to abuse within families and this wasn't a new problem either; by the mid-1800s temperance movements had appeared throughout the United States. These temperance movements, however, were more within small towns and had little or no effect on large cities, but were becoming increasingly popular especially among religious groups, who believed that drinking led to sinful behavior, and among women, most of whom were abused by their drunken husbands ( Marrone, 704). As mentioned above, with alcohol related crime and high death rates and temperance movements being p...... middle of paper...... wants at any cost, including l murder and illegal activities such as smuggling would do little to help crime rates and drunkenness. These were both the goals of Prohibition and it did little to accomplish them, which is why Prohibition was ultimately so successful; not only because it increased the crime rate, but because of the opposite effect it had on society from what it intended and which in itself made Prohibition a failure. Works Cited Brown, L. Ames. "Prohibition." JSTOR. Np, nd Web. April 10, 2014."Prohibition." Original Britannica sources. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 8 April 2014. “Organized Crime and Prohibition.” Organized crime and prohibitionism. Np, nd Web. April 10, 2014."crime." American history. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. April 10, 2014. “Liquor Law Violations.” Trenton Evening Times December 11, 1920: n. page Journalist banks database. Network. April 9. 2014.