English Powerpoint Project.

2. Prohibition
In the 1920s, the United States
passed the 18th amendment, or
“The Volstead Act” stating that no
intoxicating liquor(liquor with an
alcohol content above 0.5%) was to
be manufactured, imported,
exported, sold or transported,
except for medicinal purposes. The
prohibition act was the beginning
of bootlegging or the illegal
manufacture and transportation of
liquor.

3. The idea was that prohibition would lower alcoholic
consumption, therefore lowering crime and death in the
US. However, the results were quite the opposite.
Although the 18th amendment banned all
manufacture, transportation, and sale of liquor, it did not
ban the consumption. Mobsters and bootleggers made
millions from those who bought alcohol from them, they
were the ones taking the risk; not the drinkers.
Now that these criminals had
become big shots, more
people were tempted to
follow in their footsteps.

4. The mob used prohibition to gain a foothold for
organized crime. Alcohol consumption raised considerably;
speakeasies, or illegal bars were opened all over the country.
People started to protest the act not because of alcohol, but
because of the immense growing rate of crime. In 1933 the
21st amendment was ratified, repealing the 18th amendment.
Alcohol was no longer illegal.

5. The Great Depression
The Great Depression was
years of poverty, starvation and
crime in the US. In 1929 on a day
known as “Black Tuesday” a large
crash in the stock market caused
people rich in stocks to suddenly
become poor. It caused businesses
to close and factories to be shut
down. Millions of US citizens were
left unemployed. Left with no jobs
or means of supporting a
family, many people turned to
crime. These were the days that
we saw the rise of Bonnie and
Clyde, John Dillinger, and many
other successful criminals.
“Burglar enters splendid home of well-
known stock broker!”

6. Al Capone
During the time of Prohibition, Al Capone was one of the most
successful bootleggers/mobsters around. Some call him
America’s best known gangster. He made millions by selling
illegally manufactured liquor. In 1925 Capone became the mob
boss of a gang in Chicago that was once lead by John Torrio.
Capone’s worst enemies were the Northsiders, including
“Bugs” Moran, whom he lived in constant fear of. Capone died
of syphilis on January 25th, 1947.

7. Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
were infamous robbers during the Great
Depression. They never had a
permanent home, usually living in
whatever car they had stolen; they were
always on the road. They had a two year
crime spree from 1932-1934, in which
most all of their robberies and murders
took place. Bonnie and Clyde were
ambushed and killed in their car on May
23, 1934 by a group of police officers
from both Texas and Louisiana. They had
concealed themselves in bushes on the
side of a highway in Louisiana, which
they knew the couple were to drive
down in the morning. When they
passed, the officers opened fired killing
them both.

8. John Dillinger
During the 1930s John Dillinger was a very
successful bank robber, and earned himself
the title “Public Enemy Number One”. By
many, he was known as the Robin Hood of
The Great Depression, and got the
nickname Jackrabbit by his swift
movements and narrow escapes from police
and the FBI. He escaped from an “escape
proof” jail in Indiana, on march 3rd, 1934
with a fake hand gun he had whittled. On
July 22nd, 1934 at the age of 31, he was
shot down by the FBI outside of a movie
theater. He attended a film with his
girlfriend and another woman, who ratted
him out to the FBI, and told them about the
movie they were to attend. She was
identified by a red dress, and John Dillinger
became the gangster given up by the “Lady
in Red”

9. J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover was a powerful yet very
controversial figure, that lead the FBI in
their attempt to stop gangsters and crime
In the 1930s. In 1924 he became the
director of the Bureau of Investigation, and
in 1935 he became the first director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation(difference
being agents were now able to be armed).
He remained director of the FBI until his
death in 1972, at age 77, and had lead
the FBI for 48 years, making it grow into
what it is now. He brought down such
gangsters as John Dillinger, “Baby Face
Nelson, “Machine Gun” Kelly, and “Pretty
Boy” Floyd

10. Bibliography
“Prohibition in the United States.” Wikipedia. 1 May. 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States
“Great Depression in the United States” Wikipedia 1 May. 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_States>
“Major Events of the 1920’s.” 1 May. 2009
<http://www.tqnyc.org/2006/NYC063369/events.htm>
“Al Capone.” Wikipedia 1 May. 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone>
“Al Capone TIMELINE” 1 May. 2009
<http://www.alcaponemuseum.com/timeline.html>
Rosa, Paul. “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.” historybuff.com 1 May. 2009
<http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbonnie.html>
Rosenburg, Jennifer. “Bonnie and Clyde.” About.com 1 May. 2009
<http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/bonnieandclyde.htm>
“John Dillinger” Wikipedia 1 May. 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger>
“John Edgar Hoover” Spartacus Educational <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhooverE.htm>
“J. Edgar Hoover (1895 - 1972)” Find a Grave 1 Jan. 2001. 1 May. 2009
<http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=499>
“John Dillinger” NNDB 1 May. 2009
<http://www.nndb.com/people/939/000095654/>
“The Great Depression in Cartoons, Part 7: Miscellaneous Drawings from 1931” Archelaus 13 Feb. 2009.
1 May. 2009 http://www.archelaus-cards.com/blog/2009/02/13/the-great-depression-in-cartoons-
part-7-miscellaneous-drawings-from-1931/