In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson instituted a temporary wartime prohibition. That same year, Congress submitted the 18th Amendment, It received the support of the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states in just 11 months. The 18th amendment was ratified on January 29, 1919, it went into effect a year later, by then no fewer than 33 states had already enacted their own prohibition legislation. In October 1919, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act, which provided guidelines for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. Defended by Representative Andrew Volstead, the legislation was more commonly known as the Volstead Act. The ratification of the 18th Amendment banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of liquor, this brought in a period in American history known as Prohibition.The prohibition was difficult to enforce, despite the passage of the Volstead Act. The Federal
…show more content…
The most notorious example was the Chicago gangster Al Capone, who earned millions annually from bootleg operations and speakeasies. Illegal operations such as this fueled a rise in gang violence, including the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which several men dressed as policemen were killed for being accused of being associated with gang acts such as Al Capone's. The high price of bootleg liquor meant that the nation’s working class and poor were far more restricted during Prohibition than middle or upper class Americans. Even as costs for law enforcement, jails and prisons spiraled upward, support for Prohibition was waning by the end of the 1920s. In addition, fundamentalist and native forces had gained more control over the sobriety movement, alienating its more moderate members. In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. It was ratified by the end of that year, bringing the Prohibition era to a
The most notorious example was the Chicago gangster Al Capone, who earned millions annually from bootleg operations and speakeasies. Illegal operations such as this fueled a rise in gang violence, including the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which several men dressed as policemen were killed for being accused of being associated with gang acts such as Al Capone's. The high price of bootleg liquor meant that the nation’s working class and poor were far more restricted during Prohibition than middle or upper class Americans. Even as costs for law enforcement, jails and prisons spiraled upward, support for Prohibition was waning by the end of the 1920s. In addition, fundamentalist and native forces had gained more control over the sobriety movement, alienating its more moderate members. In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. It was ratified by the end of that year, bringing the Prohibition era to a