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The roots of the temperance movement stretch all the The American Temperance Society was the first
way back to the early nineteenth century. organization to not want people to drink alcohol.
The American Temperance Society, founded in
1826, encouraged voluntary abstinence from alcohol,
and influenced many successor organizations, which
advocated mandatory prohibition on the sale and
import of alcoholic beverages. (2)

In many ways, temperance activists were seeking to Temperance groups thought that drinking alcohol was
ameliorate the negative social effects of rapid damaging society and against Christian values.
industrialization. Saloons and the heavy drinking
culture they fostered were associated with immigrants
and members of the working class, and were seen as
detrimental to the values of a Christian society. (2)

The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January The 18th Amendment made it illegal to make, sell, and
16, 1919, and went into effect one year later, on transport alcohol in the United States.
January 17, 1920. Section 1 states After one year
from the ratification of this article the manufacture,
sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within,
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof
from the United States and all the territory subject to
the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is
hereby prohibited. (2)

To define the prohibitory terms of the Amendment, The Volstead Act clarified parts of the 18th
Congress passed the National Prohibition Act, better Amendment and made the U.S. Treasury Department
known as the Volstead Act, on October 28, 1919. The in charge of enforcing the new rules.
Volstead Act charged the U.S. Treasury Department
with enforcement of the new restrictions, and defined
which intoxicating liquours were forbidden and
which were excluded from Prohibition (for example,
alcoholic beverages used for medical and religious
purposes). (3)
Prohibition's supporters were initially surprised by Many different people and businesses thought that
what did not come to pass during the dry era. When Prohibition would bring more money into businesses,
the law went into effect, they expected sales of because people were no longer allowed to buy
clothing and household goods to skyrocket. Real alcohol.
estate developers and landlords expected rents to rise
as saloons closed and neighborhoods improved.
Chewing gum, grape juice, and soft drink companies
all expected growth. Theater producers expected new
crowds as Americans looked for new ways to entertain
themselves without alcohol. None of it came to pass.
(1)

People expected many different many economic

Instead, the unintended consequences proved to be a
decline in amusement and entertainment industries
across the board. Restaurants failed, as they could no
longer make a profit without legal liquor sales.
Theater revenues declined rather than increase, and
few of the other economic benefits that had been
predicted came to pass.
benefits, but the opposite happened in many industries
like restaurants and theatres.
People who used to work in the alcohol industry lost
their jobs. This led to more negative effects on the
economy.

On the whole, the initial economic effects of

Prohibition were largely negative. The closing of
breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the
elimination of thousands of jobs, and in turn thousands
more jobs were eliminated for barrel makers, truckers,
waiters, and other related trades. (1)

The effects of Prohibition on law enforcement were Prohibition also had many negative effects on law
also negative. The sums of money being exchanged enforcement. The illegal sale of alcohol led to many
during the dry era proved a corrupting influence in law enforcement agents being bribed to look the other
both the federal Bureau of Prohibition and at the state way.
and local level. Police officers and Prohibition agents
alike were frequently tempted by bribes or the
lucrative opportunity to go into bootlegging
themselves. Many stayed honest, but enough
succumbed to the temptation that the stereotype of the
corrupt Prohibition agent or local cop undermined
public trust in law enforcement for the duration of the
era. (1)
The Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Because of all the negative consequences of
Eighteenth Amendment, was ratified on December 5, Prohibition, the 21st Amendment was passed to repeal
1933, conclusively ending the nations ban on the the 18th Amendment.
manufacture and distribution of alcohol. Prohibition
was a social experiment that had nurtured the very ills
that it sought to amelioratecriminal activity, public
corruption, and a casual disregard for the rule of law.
(3)

Vocabulary:

1) Temperance: abstinence from alcoholic drink

2) Advocated: publicly recommend or support
3) Prohibition: legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic
beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933
4) Ameliorate: make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better
5) Industrialization: the development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale
6) Detrimental: tending to cause harm
7) Ratified: sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it
officially valid
8) Jurisdiction: the official power to make legal decisions and judgments
9) Enforcement: the act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or
obligation
10) Unintended: not planned or meant
11) Breweries: a place where beer is made commercially
12) Distilleries: a place where liquor is manufactured
13) Corrupting: cause to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain
14) Lucrative: producing a great deal of profit
15) Succumbed: fail to resist (pressure, temptation, or some other negative force)
16) Repealed: revoke or annul (a law or congressional act)

Sources:
(1) http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/unintended-consequences/
(2) https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-7/apush-1920s-
america/a/prohibition
(3) https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xviii