Not many amendments in the United States’ Constitution are as well-known as the 18th amendment. This amendment, also called the Volstead Act, or Prohibition, established a landmark in the history of the United States. Prohibition’s effects involved people’s reactions towards the amendment, the serious questions it raised in regards to the government’s involvement in everyday life, and alcohol’s classification as a drug in the United States/ The push for Prohibition began in the 1826 when the American Temperance Society was established to warn people of the adverse effects of alcohol and to promote abstinence from drinking1. Years later, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874 by a group of women to encourage an anti-drinking …show more content…
In December of 1917, Congress was able to pass 18th amendment, which stated that “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors,…for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.”3 By 1919, enough states had ratified the amendment, and it was officially made into law.3 Thus, the many advocates for Prohibition finally accomplished their goal, and looked forward to what they believed would be a more morally guided America. Of course, Prohibition did its job-at first. The consumption of alcohol and rate of alcoholism fell. However, many problems arose as well. Many people could make their own alcohol and secretly sell it, and national enforcement was difficult. Cities like San Francisco and Boston never enforced the new law, some states never ratified the amendment, and Congress did not provide enough funds to establish an efficient national police force. Due to lack of enforcement, speakeasies, or underground saloons, quickly became popular among the upper-class and those who refused to accept Prohibition, and bootleggers, or alcohol smugglers, were increasingly hired to obtain alcohol from Canada and the Caribbean2. This is how the public reacted to Prohibition- met with enthusiasm by its supporters, but those who refused to accept Prohibition outright defied and disregarded …show more content…
As most know, Progressives sought reforms to improve the lives of the common people during times of corruption and economic difficulties. However, how far is too far? Should government be allowed to legislate morality? This question is highly opinionated and will probably never have a definite answer. Citizens are taught that the American government represents all the people, and the decisions that they make are based on what the majority of the population wants. After all, Prohibition would never have been passed if the majority of the people had opposed it. But the problem with legislating morality, like Prohibition, is that not everyone wants the government dictating what he or she can and cannot do, especially on things that most people think they have a freedom of choice because it involves their personal lives. Except for laws that prevent harm towards others (murder, assault, theft, etc.), people have different opinions on what they view as right or wrong. People have different values and morals, and in the United States, where so many cultures have blended together, passing “morality laws” are difficult. Prohibition started out as a noble cause- even today, alcohol poses a problem and could be improved, but in the end, morality simply could not prevail and only ended in disaster. As a lesson learned from Prohibition, government should not legislate morality.
The Eighteenth Amendment which instituted prohibition in America and its territories was an interesting attempt at using the constitutional amendment process to shape social and moral behavior in America. Until the Twenty-First Amendment which repealed prohibition, the road to prohibition in America dates back to colonial days. Although the amendment did not last as it was reversed by the Twenty-First Amendment less than 15 years later, along the way, the battleground for prohibition grew from local organizations to a national political party and set new interpretations for the Constitutional amendment process and played an important role in in American history. The Eighteenth Amendment was the high-water mark for what is often referred to
”Why did America change its mind on prohibition”? One main reason is because of it’s impact on law abiding citizens, another, is the effect of prohibition on people in government positions, and final is its’ influence on America’s economy.
Prohibition, is it good or will it come crumbling down? Prohibition laws were supported by some, but eventually hated by most due to people eventually acting out violenty fighting against it. However, these acts of violence helped out the pro prohibition teams in their case explaining the people who consume these products are not in the right mind. Source A is pro prohibition and Barnum explains her journey through the time of trying to help enforce these laws by giving temperament speeches throughout the states. The Abstinence Pledge of 1845 represented how serious the pro prohibition supporters wanted these laws to be.
Prohibition: Failures and Success By Jayden A. Mendoza "Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places, and does not cure it or even diminish it." (Mark Twain). This quote perfectly encapsulates the impact and outcome of prohibition, and why it was bound to fail. Prohibition was not only a period of crime and homicide, but an experiment to see how Americans would respond to drastic change. Prohibition was a failure due to how difficult it was to enforce, illegal activity was on the rise, and that it was untaxable.
Then if people feel that drinking is wrong and that it damages society, then why are the previous Amendments accepted and prohibition not? Economic circumstances, like the depression, might be valid reasons for such an acceptance. However, no such conundrum is prevalent today. Slavery was thought to infringe on another’s rights (Danzer, 1998). All laws promote this concept: you are free until you prohibit someone else’s freedom, then you are restricted.
The amendment was intended to create an abstinence from alcoholic beverages. In this time period most people drank alcoholic beverages there wasn’t many people back then that did not drink. “ The 18th amendment was ratified in 1919, congress passed the Volstead Act to enforce national prohibition” (the 18th amendment ushers in the prohibition Era: January 16, 1919). It was repealed in 1933 by the ratification of the 21st amendment. The only thing that the government wanted to do was control the drinking but that is like taking someones freedoms ways.
Liquor clubs, secret drinking clubs, started popping up throughout the cities. As well as clubs being formed, alcohol was being illegally manufactured, sold, and consumed in stills, which was known as bootlegging. Tainted liquor was being made everyday by the common folk resulting in the deaths of many Americans (Doc 4). More serious offenses arose such as organized crimes conducted by gangsters. By this time, crime rates were skyrocketing, the economy was at an all time low, and families were being torn apart (Doc1).
,this was ample proof that the act was making criminals out of decent men (Document 2). Prohibition failed because these men believed that the real criminals were the government who were taking away what these men worked hard for. Their personal morals outweighed the petty laws that were set by the government and allowed people to break the rules of this non-sense Prohibition. With every political decision,this leads to the creation of leagues and movements. The citizen's liberty league was against prohibition and created an ad
This also started protests against the 18th Amendment. People against Prohibition argue that there is no need for the unnecessary crime that is created by Prohibition. Without the Prohibition laws, the acts committed by those who went against the laws wouldn't be considered
Did the United States show weakness by giving in to its people? The 18th and 21st Amendments of the United States Constitution just might shed some light on the situation. The ratification of the 18th Amendment, January 16, 1919, stirred up feelings of the American people. Americans started to express their thoughts and shared them with the government, this led to the ratification of the 21st amendment, December 5, 1933. This act of the United States government was made to please the people, some consider it a trade-off for America.
However, the law made the sale, manufacture, and use of all alcohol illegal. Prohibition failed because it was not easily enforced, it destroyed businesses and jobs, and lead to the rise of organized crime. It was a nice day on January 16th, 1919 when the 18th Amendment was ratified in congress and many celebrated the outlawing of alcohol. It didn’t take long however for people to find ways to break the law without getting caught which flourished the illegal alcohol trade. Speak-easies were popular during the 1920s and would be
The 18th amendment was a horrible idea and should have never happened. It was a slap to the face of the American people and the country itself. Prohibition did not help make the country better, but instead it made matters worse. Many problems occurred after the prohibition started, especially in the city of Chicago. In the article, “The Corrupt City” it states that, “Chicago was a perfect city for the development of large-scale organized criminal activity.
In 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in America (Doc B). Prohibitionists overlooked the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. Thus, there was tension between the modernists and the traditionalists. Although the amendment was passed, alcohol was still distributed illegally. Actually, prohibition spawned many crimes, such as illegal sale of alcohol and gang wars.
On January 16th of 1919, the American congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of alcohol illegal. It was not until 1920 that the Amendment was enforced. During the era of progressive reform, 1900-1919 it took much convincing to get congress to pass the Amendment. You have a majority of the population against prohibition because saloons were a social hangout for them where they hosted parties, weddings, etc. Then you have the rest of the population for prohibition because of economic, religious, and health reasons.
The protest was not the only reason prohibition ended. Prohibition ended because, crime rose, people were corrupted and the government lost tax revenues. First of all, prohibition ended because crime rose. The homicide rate per 100,000 Americans was 10 in 1933 (Doc. B). It had peeked