Prohibition
Kate Martinetti/ Michelle
Abraham
11th Grade American History
Introduction
Prohibition was a period in
Task
You
are a reporter and your task is to investigate how effective this new policy of
Prohibition is in improving the lives of people in
You
will use the TIPS Public Policy Analysis format
Process
Meeting with your group you will develop a plan of research
that seeks to find answers to the impact of Prohibition on your target group in
the population. Among these groups are
women, business owners who seek to sell alcohol beverages, local government
officials, religious and political and social activists,
Using the 6 step process
outlined by the Public Policy Analyst, you will answer the following
steps: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/usppai1.html
1. Define the problem.
2.
Gather evidence of the problem using teacher supplied internet websites.
3.
Identify the causes of the problem using teacher supplied internet websites.
4. Evaluate Existing Public Policy using the internet and
input data.
You will be required to
complete 4 worksheets.
Each group will present to
the class an oral presentation. This will not be any longer than 15minutes.
Each group will present a
written presentation. This will be a two
page report of your findings. Every
student will be assigned a particular task within the group and will be decided
by group consensus.
Written Component Criteria
will be as follows:
A two page report typed done
in your own words.
Do not plagiarize.
A cover sheet using the
following format:
Title of Report
Name
Class
Due Date (to be assigned)
You can design the cover any
way you choose.
Be sure to record all information
in your endnotes.
For better results, draft a
first copy
Oral Component Criteria will
be as follows:
You will be assigned to work
in groups of 5 (by the teacher)
Assign roles for each group
member e.g. group leader, recorder, presenter etc.
Each person will be
responsible for answering one of the following questions.
Question#1: Define and describe Prohibition.
Question#2: How did Prohibition lead to a substantial
rise in crime?
Question#3: Explain public policy in the
Question#4: How did the issue of Prohibition, ‘play’ in
the Democratic presidential campaigns of 1924 and 1928?
Question#5: Be an expert employed by the City of
Question#6: Congress passed the Volstead
Act to enforce the 18th Amendment in 1920. As a group, select and explain the best
policy solution you can come up with for the time.
Research Questions
The following questions will
aid you in your research:
1. As part of the background study for your
project, how did Prohibition succeed in 1846 in
2. How did the need to conserve grain during
World War I allow the Temperance Movement to gain credibility and support?
3. After the Civil War, what led to the rise of
the Prohibition Party, the Anti-Saloon League, Womens’
Christian Temperance Union?:
4. How did the Volstead
Act enforce the 18th Amendment?
5. Why did cutting alcohol consumption in the
country lead to illegal activities such as bootlegging, rum-running and the
Speakeasy?
6. If you ran a Speakeasy in
7. Using the internet
resources and historical archives, find instances of the police response to
bootlegging activities in N.Y. and Chicago.
8. How did organized crime prosper especially in
9. How did Al Capone come to the public’s
attention in the 1920s?
10. Why was Alfred E. Smith,
Governor of New York, opposed to Prohibition?
Do you think that Mayor Guiliani or Bloomberg
would have the same response?
11. How did Prohibition affect the Presidential
campaigns of 1924 and 1928?
12. Why was Prohibition repealed in 1933 by the
21st Amendment?
13. If you were a man, aged 40, recent immigrant
from dear old
14. If you were Willie’s wife, aged 35, another
immigrant from
Evaluation
You will be given a rubric for grading purposes
Your written and oral
presentation will be based on the following rubric:
Needs Improvement Satisfactory Exemplary
Quality of
Info General Info. Accurate
Info Info+exam
Format None General Perfect
Accuracy Major Errors Few
errors Perfect
Grammar
Spelling
Resources
You will need to use the
following search engines and websites to provide research information for your
work.
Search engine www.yahoo.com
Search engine: www.google.com
Search engine: www.askjeeves.com
http://www.riverwalk.org/proglist/showprom/prohibition.htm
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/FunFacts/Prohibition
http://organizedcrime.about.com/cs/outsidenewyork/
http://www.4freeessays.com/essays/624.shtml
http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan
http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/nyf/volxixnol.html
http://www.kevinmurphy.com/alsmith.htm
http://www.dogpile.com/index.gsp
Standards
Civics, Citizenship
and Government. Students will use a variety of intellectual
skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing
governments; the governmental system of the
EIC: Reads and comprehends information materials
E2A: Produces a report of information
E3B: Participates in Group meetings
Picture Credits
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/FunFacts/Prohibition
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture17.html
Conclusion
Upon completion of this
project students will be able to assess and evaluate the changes in American
culture and values as a result of Prohibition.
Students will also be able to research the topic through use of the
websites cited on the internet.