Prohibition in the United States
Ok little one, do you know what drinking alcohol is?
Yes.
Okay, so a long, long time ago some people decided that drinking too much alcohol made them do silly things and sometimes made them very sick. They decided that it was a bad thing that nobody should do.
But other people really liked drinking alcohol and didn't think it was bad at all. They wanted to keep drinking it.
Eventually, the people who didn't like alcohol got together and convinced the government to make a new law that said nobody was allowed to make, sell or drink alcohol. This was called prohibition.
Some people were happy about this but others were very upset. They thought that it was their right to be able to drink whatever they wanted.
So what happened?
Well, people still really wanted alcohol so they started making it illegally. They called this illegal alcohol 'bootleg.'
The people who made bootleg often did it secretly in their own homes. They could get into a lot of trouble if they were caught. Sometimes people even died from drinking it because it was made in such a dangerous way.
The police tried really hard to stop people from making and drinking bootleg but it was very difficult because so many people wanted it. People found creative ways to hide their alcohol and sneak it around without being caught.
Eventually, after many years, the government realized that prohibition wasn't working. It was making things worse, not better. So they got rid of the law and people could drink alcohol again, but they made some new rules about how much was okay to drink and when it was okay to drink it.
And that's why today we don't have prohibition anymore, but we still have rules about alcohol to keep us safe.
Yes.
Okay, so a long, long time ago some people decided that drinking too much alcohol made them do silly things and sometimes made them very sick. They decided that it was a bad thing that nobody should do.
But other people really liked drinking alcohol and didn't think it was bad at all. They wanted to keep drinking it.
Eventually, the people who didn't like alcohol got together and convinced the government to make a new law that said nobody was allowed to make, sell or drink alcohol. This was called prohibition.
Some people were happy about this but others were very upset. They thought that it was their right to be able to drink whatever they wanted.
So what happened?
Well, people still really wanted alcohol so they started making it illegally. They called this illegal alcohol 'bootleg.'
The people who made bootleg often did it secretly in their own homes. They could get into a lot of trouble if they were caught. Sometimes people even died from drinking it because it was made in such a dangerous way.
The police tried really hard to stop people from making and drinking bootleg but it was very difficult because so many people wanted it. People found creative ways to hide their alcohol and sneak it around without being caught.
Eventually, after many years, the government realized that prohibition wasn't working. It was making things worse, not better. So they got rid of the law and people could drink alcohol again, but they made some new rules about how much was okay to drink and when it was okay to drink it.
And that's why today we don't have prohibition anymore, but we still have rules about alcohol to keep us safe.