Prohibition

Prohibition disposal  

(public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Prohibition was a period of almost fourteen years of American history in which the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor, or alcoholic beverages were made illegal. It resulted in the first and only time an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed; the law was responsible for a number of other unforeseen things as well.

Starting in 1920 and thank goodness (for several reasons) ending in 1933, the often called “Noble Experiment” was a time that’s most often characterized by speakeasies, glamour, and gangsters; it was a time during which the typical citizen was guilty of breaking the law.

Following the American Revolution, consumption of alcoholic beverages was on the rise. In an effort to combat this, a number of groups were organized as a part of the new Temperance (self-control) movement which come up with the idea that people in general should not become intoxicated. In their infancy or early years, these organizations recommended moderation, but after several decades, the movement’s focal point changed to absolute prohibition of alcohol consumption.

The Temperance movement blamed alcohol for any number of society’s ills, particularly crime and murder. Saloons came to be considered little more than a social haven for bad men who lived in the still untamed “wild west”.  They were viewed by many, especially women, as places of outright wickedness and evil. A nation wide law requiring prohibition, members of the Temperance movement argued, would put a stop to husbands spending all of the American family’s income on liquor and at the same time prevent accidents in the workplace caused by all those workers who drank during lunch.

Technically it was the 18th Amendment that went into effect on January 16, 1920 that established Prohibition, but it was the Volstead Act (passed on October 28, 1919) that made the law crystal clear. The Act stated that “beer, wine, or other intoxicating malt or vinous (resembling or containing wine) liquors” pertained to all beverages that contained more than 0.5% alcohol by volume. The Act also stated that owning any items designed to manufacture alcohol (like moonshine stills) were illegal and the Act further set specific fines and jail sentences for those individuals caught violating the Prohibition law.

As is the case with many other unreasonable laws, there were several loopholes which allowed people to legally drink during Prohibition. For example, the 18th Amendment did not mention the actual drinking of liquor. So when Prohibition went into effect after the 18th Amendment’s ratification, a lot of folks had planned ahead by buying multiple cases of then-legal alcohol and storing them for personal use at a later date. You might say a lot of people saw it coming, and took the most reasonable action. In addition, The Volstead Act allowed alcohol consumption if it was prescribed by a doctor. As you might guess, there were large numbers of new prescriptions written for alcohol.

Those people who could not or did not buy cases of liquor in advance or know a “good” doctor who would write prescriptions for their alcohol fix; well, there were illegal ways to drink during the Prohibition era. In fact, the circumstance gave rise to a new breed of gangster. These industrious folks quickly recognized the amazingly high level of demand for alcoholic beverages within society and the limited avenues of supply to the average citizen. As a result of this imbalance of supply and demand, gangsters saw a huge profit opportunity.

Can you believe it; these gangsters would hire men to smuggle in rum, whiskey, and bourbon from places like Ireland, the Caribbean Islands, and Germany or simply hijack whiskey from nearby Canada and bring it into the U.S.   Others would purchase large quantities of liquor made in such far off places as homemade stills right here in America.

These very same gangsters would then open up secret bars typically called ‘speakeasies’ for those folks who hadn’t planned ahead, of didn’t have a “good” doctor available, so they could come into a speakeasy to drink illegally, or in the alternative,  just  socialize.

During this era, a lot of the newly hired Prohibition agents were given the responsibility of  raiding speakeasies, finding illegal stills, and arresting gangsters; alas, many of these agents were both under-qualified and underpaid which, you guessed it, resulted in a high rate of bribery.

Almost immediately following the ratification of the 18th Amendment, several organizations were formed, whose sole purpose was to repeal it. Folks soon realized that the perfect world promised by the Temperance movement failed to materialize and more people joined the fight to bring back liquor. As the 1920’s progressed, the anti-Prohibition movement gained strength, often arguing that alcohol consumption was a local issue and not something that should even be considered by / in the U.S. Constitution.

Such re-thinking was hurried along with the Stock Market Crash in 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression. People needed jobs; the government needed money; so making alcohol legal again would open up many new jobs for citizens and create additional tax opportunities for the government; it all began to make pretty good sense.

On December 5, 1933, the “Noble Experiment” was officially killed when the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. This Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, making liquor once again legal, at least in the eyes of the Federal Government.

Although Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20, 1933, it was not ratified or adopted until December 5, 1933 by state rarifying conventions.  Both, Alaska and Hawaii were not states at the time of ratification, but there remains 8 U.S States that have not ratified the amendment, they include:  Nebraska, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Georgia; 38 were required.  It’s the only U. S. amendment to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions, specially selected for the purpose.  All other amendments have been ratified by state legislatures. It also remains the first and only time in American history that an Amendment has been repealed.

Sources:

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm                    

http://seattletwist.com/2009/12/05/celebrate-the-21st-amendment-part-4/      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution