Three classic The History Guy episodes about bootleggers of the American Midwest. A half hour of the History Guy
00:00 Prohibition and The Quad Cities Vice Lord, John Looney
09:31 The Charlie Birger Gang and Little Egypt
22:11 The "King of the Bootleggers" and a loophole in the Volstead Act
This episode will be released on YouTube June 21.
The “Great Sedition Trial” uncovered shocking connections at the time with the German reich that we were fighting, and challenged the idea that the nation was of a single mind during the war. It also challenged exactly how far the national commitment to freedom of speech and opinion reached, especially in extraordinary times.