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The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States.The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919.
The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. [1] The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and Prohibition was formally introduced nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on January 16, 1919.
In 1919, the requisite number of state legislatures ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, enabling national prohibition one year later. Many women, notably members of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, were pivotal in bringing about national Prohibition in the United States, believing it would protect families, women, and children from the effects of alcohol ...
At 12:01 a.m., Jan. 17, 1920, America was cut off. Saloons closed their doors. Taps stopped flowing. People stockpiled their whiskey, beer and wine to weather the dry spell that would last 13 years.
Congress has also enacted statutes governing the constitutional amendment process. When a constitutional amendment is sent to the states for ratification, the Archivist of the United States is charged with responsibility for administering the ratification process under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. § 106b. [5]
The subsequent enactment of the Volstead Act established federal enforcement of the nationwide prohibition on alcohol. As many Americans continued to drink despite the amendment, Prohibition gave rise to a profitable black market for alcohol, fueling the rise of organized crime. Throughout the 1920s, Americans increasingly came to see ...
The Volstead Act implemented the 18th Amendment (Prohibition). The act defined "intoxicating beverage" as one with 0.5 percent alcohol by weight. Numerous problems with enforcement [1] and a desire to create jobs and raise tax revenue by legalizing beer, wine, and liquor [2] led a majority of voters and members of Congress to turn against Prohibition by late 1932.
In February 1933, Congress passed the Blaine Act, a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment to end prohibition. On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment , which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, voiding the Volstead Act and restoring control of alcohol to the states. [ 29 ]