Ep. 21 Prohibition: How the US Government Killed 10,000 People With Poisoned Alcohol

The decade of the 1920s is often referred to as the “Roaring Twenties.” You can probably picture it now: jazz trumpets blare while women in shiny dresses dance the Charleston with their beaus and sip fancy martinis. It’s fast, it’s loud, it’s fun, it’s one big party, like New Years Eve every night. Night clubs, cocktails, rock and roll, all of these cultural staples evolved out of the roaring twenties. But take the alcohol away and, I’m not sure they would have roared quite as loudly. Surprisingly, the twenties took place during a 13 year period in the United States known as prohibition, when the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal. Despite this, Americans went to great lengths to keep the party roaring. The government had its work cut out for it to enforce this new ban on alcohol. But, did you know, they took that enforcement so seriously, it resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 Americans? Let’s fix that. 

Sources:

• Chicago Tribune "The Bender that Started America"
• Teaching American History "Entertainment of George Washington at City Tavern, Philadelphia"
• The Mob Museum "Women Led the Temperance Charge"
• University of Rochester "Stanton/Anthony Friendship"
• History.com "How Prohibition Fueled the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan"
• The Whiskey Wash "What Exactly Was Medical Whiskey 'Treating' Anyway?"
• National Library of Medicine "Poison's Legacy"
• Short History of podcast episode "Prohibition"
• Stuff They Don't Want You to Know podcast episode "The Prohibition Conspiracy"

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