18th Amendment Cause And Effect Essay

As a nation coming out of a devastating war, United States was in the midst of making major social changes in laws and regulations; one of the most prominent examples of this was the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. The 18th Amendment, prohibition of the manufacture, sale and transport of alcohol, was established during the Roaring Twenties when United States went through a decade full of industrial, economical, and social growth. Originally, President Woodrow Wilson instituted a temporary wartime prohibition to save grain for producing move, but at the same year Congress decided to submit the 18th Amendment. In January 16, 1920, the National Prohibition Act went into effect. Although religious groups, politicians and social organisations advocated the idea of prohibition to reduce crime rate, solve social problems and improve public health, it did not lower the crime rate, it became a major source of corruption, and effected the US economy in a way that it was just a waste of money and time.

Before the National Prohibition Act was rectified, many states heavily relied on the excise taxes in liquor sales to fund their budges, for example, New York. 75% of New York’s state’s revenue depended on liquor taxes; as soon as Prohibition went into effect, New York immediately lost the revenue. New York wasn’t the only state that relied on excise taxes in liquor sales; in general, the whole entire national lost $11 billion of tax revenue, and spent more than $300 million to enforce this law. The US Government waste money on something that was nonessential. By the end of prohibition, there were about 3,000 speakeasies in Cleveland alone, which means that there was no point of establishing the amendment when people could still drink. Although the government did get some appreciations from the dries, but there were more wets than dries and it was a total waste of time and