Prohibition

Source

Prohibition, is the banning of victimless crimes such as gambling, drinking alcohol, ect. The prohibition era lasted from 1920-1933. The social experiment of prohibition was a fail. Prohibition caused disrespect for the law. It caused people to see the law as unimportant, since the things that were made illegal weren't actually a threat. It also organized crime. People turned to criminals to smuggle them some alcohol, and eventually, those criminals became well known, and well liked. Prohibition also changed many people's drinking habits... for the worse. It increased the use of hard alcohols, like vodka, because they were clear, and easier to smuggle. Hard alcohols are also stronger than most beers. Prohibition also prevented the treatment of people who had drinking problems. People couldn't get help, because technically it was illegal to drink. Overall, prohibition didn't really end any problems, in fact it made most of them worse. It caused the country a lot of money, and pretty much wasted many people's time and energy enforcing laws that didn't really need to be enforced in the first place.

Source

Source

                                

Ellis Island

Source

Over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. In Ellis Island, immigrants had to pass a variety of tests in order to be allowed into the country. Most of the immigrants, came from Eastern and Southern Europe. They came to America for many reasons such as poverty and religious freedom in countries such as Italy, Poland, and Russia. Before immigrants were even allowed on land, a medical officer came onto the ships and checked for signs of illness and diseases. If they passed that, they were sent on land where they were given numbers for identification. They would place their bags in a room and continue to check in to see if they would be allowed in America. They would ask them lots of questions about their past lives, reasons for leaving, and plans for the future. Some people were detained for many reasons, and if so they had to wait days, weeks, or even months for their cases to be reviewed. In the photo above a few men had just passed inspection and are looking at the looming buildings of New York City as they wait for a ferry to take them across. America was a place for new opportunities for many people and gave a positive future for them. 

Source

The Great War

During my travels in Europe, I experienced many parts of the war. I was in England right before the war began. As word spread by mouth that a war was coming, many changes occurred throughout the town. Stations were set up in the centers of town recruiting boys who were atleast 19 years of age to fight in the war. People who lived in the towns were selling their horses to the military o either work as calvery or other jobs such as pulling wagons or make shift ambulances. Since the start of the war, the town seems to be very patriotic and united. All of the people seem to be coming together to fight in the war. I kept in touch with a soldier who kept me updated with things that were happening throughout the war from a soldiers POV. He said that training was rough. He was apart of the caverly unit. They trained on the horses. The British army moves towards France and the calvery unit plans a surprise attack on the Germans. In the beginning the British are doing well, but as the Germans realize what is happening, they bring out the machine guns. Machine guns are a new type of weapon in wars. They are very dangerous and hard to avoid. The Germans end up defeating the British, because their horses just cannot fight with the machine guns. In Europe, the war zone is known as "Over There". Many boys tried to lie about their ages in order to fight in the war. There were some German soldiers who mutinied, and when they did, they were shot. German soldiers also went to citizens homes and took all their food and all of their supplies that they wanted. During the war, many people were poor, the war took everything from everyone. Some horses on the front were used for pulling artillery. The artillery is so heavy, that horses only lasted a month or so before they died. Another thing that took many lives during the war were the trenches. Soldiers hid in the trenches, and when they were told they would run through "No Man's Land" and try to attack. It's called that, because people rarely survive when they go through. Before they ran out, they would put all their valuables into a bucket and they would be given to those who survived. Overall, this war that has just ended has resulted in Wilson's Fourteen Points. The war caused the deaths of so many valuable lives and it was the bloodiest war that I know of.