Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia. New Yorkers bid farewell to the 18th Amendment that legalized Prohibition and which was repealed by the 21st Amendment on Dec. By Olivia B. Get our History Newsletter. Put today's news in context and see highlights from the archives. Please enter a valid email address.
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Related Stories. America Needs to Get Back to Facts. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. The 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, , ending Prohibition.
In , the state of Massachusetts passed a temperance law banning the sale of spirits in less than gallon quantities; though the law was repealed two years later, it set a precedent for such legislation. Maine passed the first state prohibition laws in , followed by a stricter law in A number of other states had followed suit by the time the Civil War began in By the turn of the century, temperance societies were a common fixture in communities across the United States.
Women played a strong role in the temperance movement, as alcohol was seen as a destructive force in families and marriages. In , a new wave of attacks began on the sale of liquor, led by the Anti-Saloon League established in and driven by a reaction to urban growth, as well as the rise of evangelical Protestantism and its view of saloon culture as corrupt and ungodly.
In addition, many factory owners supported prohibition in their desire to prevent accidents and increase the efficiency of their workers in an era of increased industrial production and extended working hours.
In , after the United States entered World War I , President Woodrow Wilson instituted a temporary wartime prohibition in order to save grain for producing food. That same year, Congress submitted the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors, for state ratification. Though Congress had stipulated a seven-year time limit for the process, the amendment received the support of the necessary three-quarters of U. Ratified on January 16, , the 18th Amendment went into effect a year later, by which time no fewer than 33 states had already enacted their own prohibition legislation.
In October , Congress put forth the National Prohibition Act, which provided guidelines for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. Both federal and local government struggled to enforce Prohibition over the course of the s. In general, Prohibition was enforced much more strongly in areas where the population was sympathetic to the legislation—mainly rural areas and small towns—and much more loosely in urban areas.
Despite very early signs of success, including a decline in arrests for drunkenness and a reported 30 percent drop in alcohol consumption, those who wanted to keep drinking found ever-more inventive ways to do it.
In addition, the Prohibition era encouraged the rise of criminal activity associated with bootlegging. Such illegal operations fueled a corresponding rise in gang violence, including the St. Even as costs for law enforcement, jails and prisons spiraled upward, support for Prohibition was waning by the end of the s. In addition, fundamentalist and nativist forces had gained more control over the temperance movement, alienating its more moderate members.
With the country mired in the Great Depression by , creating jobs and revenue by legalizing the liquor industry had an undeniable appeal. Conventions in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Utah approved the amendment on that fateful December day, bringing the total to 36 states who wanted to end Prohibition—the three-quarters majority required by the Constitution.
The ratification of the 21st Amendment marked the end of federal laws to bar the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. Two states North and South Carolina rejected the 21st Amendment before December 5, so the vote was not unanimous. Mississippi decided to keep its Prohibition laws for another three decades. It was never illegal to drink during Prohibition.
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