The topic is added to the personalised control panel Essay

The topic is added to the personalised control panel - Essay Example This period in the history of America, during which the practice of bootlegging soared to popularity, is effectively represented in the book The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. The book helped in effectively portraying the culture that was rampant during that period in history, where people resorted to various illegal activities and which was highly representative of a gradual moral degradation of the American society. The moral decline is depicted by Fitzgerald by the three central characters of the book namely Gatsby, Daisy and Tom. This paper seeks to explore and discuss the concept of bootlegging and its relationship with The Great Gatsby. The concept of Bootlegging is used in reference with the illegal trafficking of liquor in the United States during the early 1920s. The expression Bootlegging was formerly used to illustrate the practice of hiding the containers of illegitimate liquor in boot tops while executing trade deals with the Indians. The concept gained widespread popularity in the 1920s after the consumption; manufacturing or sale of liquor was prohibited by passing of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. Formerly, the bootleggers smuggled imported liquor from the neighboring countries such as Mexico and Canada through ships which were anchored in international waters while various other types such as medicinal whiskey, denatured alcohol, corn liquor were eventually added as part of the trade. The prohibition and the subsequent smuggling of liquor ultimately contributed to the rise of organized – crime groups which managed all the activities associated with purchase, manufacture and sale of illega l liquor in various places of public gatherings such as restaurants and public halls1. Bootlegging became immensely popular and widespread after the eighteenth amendment was added to the Constitution in January 1920, which prohibited the manufacture, transportation, import / export, and sale of intoxicating drinks across the