PROHIBITION

WHAT IS PROHIBITION?

• Total ban on the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor throughout the United States; it was put into effect through the 18th amendment

18TH AMENDMENT

• “After one year from the ratification of this article, the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors, within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” – Section 1 of the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, adde3d in the year 1919• In normal people’s words, it banned/made illegal

the manufacturing, selling or transportation of alcohol

HISTORY OF PROHIBITION

• In 1633, Plymouth Colony prohibited the sale of alcohol over two pence (pennies).• In 1785, American doctor Benjamin Rush

discovered the effects of alcohol on the human body and published his findings in his article “Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits Upon the Human Mind and Body”• In 1826, the American Temperance Society was

formed. Soon after, many other temperance unions were created.

HISTORY OF PROHIBITION CONT.

• The Anti-Saloon was organized in 1895• On De3cember 22, 1917, the 18th Amendment

was sent to all the states banning alcohol

ENFORCING THE 18TH AMENDMENT…

• In 1919, the Volstead Act was passed. The purpose of this bill was to include how the new amendment was to be enforced.• The job of Federal Prohibition Agents was to

investigate people thought to be illegally selling or transporting alcohol, and if they were found guilty, to arrest them.

SPEAKEASIES

• Illegal secret bars selling alcohol• Estimated over 100,000 speakeasies in New York

City during the 1920s• Popular way to obtain alcohol during the

prohibition era

BOOTLEGGING

• Illegally processing, transporting and selling of liquor• Oftentimes done by gangs• Al Capone – famous Chicago gang leader and

arguably the leader of the bootlegging movement• Fun Fact: NASCAR racing was creating because of

bootlegging. Moonshiners would have to outrun the police in their vehicles.

OTHER WAYS OF OBTAINING ALCOHOL DURING PROHIBITION

• If prescribed by one’s doctor (Whiskey to cure the pain)• If bought in the year of 1919-1920, when alcohol

was still; legally sold and then used for one’s own use• Secretly smuggling liquor and other alcohol from

other countries, such as Canada

PROBLEMS WITH THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT

• Enforcement proved to be almost impossible with only 2,500 federal prohibition agents and was very expensive.• Many accessible ways for people to break the law• Widely unpopular – it is estimated that over 75%

of country in 1931 wanted to repeal (get rid of) the amendment

THE TWENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT

• Brought before Congress on December 5, 1933 and put into effect on December 15, 1933• Its goal was to repeal (remove) the 18th

Amendment, and in doing so, it became the first, and thus far in US history, the only amendment to repeal another amendment.