What Is The 18th Amendment Essay

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The 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacture, transportation and sale of all alcoholic beverages in the United States. This Amendment was passed on December 17, 1917 and eventually repealed in 1933. This Amendment was first passed for many reasons. Many believe it had to do with the Progressive Movement. This Movement was made up of many states that decided that drinking was behind the majority of America’s problem like, corruption, child abuse, and worker safety. In addition to these reasons, some people believed that drinking was a huge drag in the economy as well. After these reasons got out, individual states started to vote themselves dry. Twenty- six states voted themselves dry by the time America entered World War I in 1917. This was …show more content…
For example the President of the United States during this time kept the White House well stocked with bootleg liquor even though when he was a Senator, he had voted for Prohibition. The Volstead Act was legislation to carry out the 18th Amendment. The Senators and Congressman who voted for a “dry country” are violating the Volstead Act persistently. In fact, many many of these Congressmen and Senators appeared in a drunken condition in the halls and corridors of Congress. Corruption infested the government during this time. If you were caught bootlegging(selling alcohol illegally) during Prohibition you could receive 6 months to a year in jail just for selling a pint or a quart of whiskey. This is just one of the many reasons Prohibition was later vetoed in 1933.

Prohibition seemed to make more problems than solutions. Prohibition brought about bootlegging and an increase in racketeers, gangsters, homicides, dope selling, etc. It got gangsters richer and made them more violent in their attempts to control liquor sales and many other illegal activities such as prostitution and gambling. Homicides increased drastically during prohibition. The homicide rate was the greatest in America in 1933 towards the end of Prohibition. The rate was 10 per 100,00 Americans in

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