The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
established the
prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the
Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933—it is the only amendment to be repealed.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts by the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
, which held that a ban on the sale of alcohol would ameliorate poverty and other societal problems. The Eighteenth Amendment declared the production, transport and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, although it did not outlaw the actual consumption of alcohol. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress passed the
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
to provide for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. The Volstead Act declared that
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
,
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
and
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
qualified as intoxicating liquors and were therefore prohibited. Under the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, one year after the amendment was ratified.
Although the Eighteenth Amendment led to a decline in alcohol consumption in the United States, nationwide enforcement of Prohibition proved difficult, particularly in cities. Alcohol smuggling (known as
rum-running
Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ter ...
or bootlegging) and illicit bars (
speakeasies
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...
) became popular in many areas. Public sentiment began to turn against Prohibition during the 1920s, and
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
Democratic presidential nominee
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
called for its repeal. The Eighteenth Amendment became the only constitutional amendment to be repealed in its entirety when the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified in 1933.
Text
Background
The Eighteenth Amendment was the result of decades of effort by
the temperance movement in the United States
The Temperance movement in the United States is a movement to curb the consumption of alcohol (drug), alcohol. It had a large influence on Politics of the United States, American politics and Society of the United States, American society in the ...
and at the time was generally considered a
progressive amendment. Founded in 1893 in Saratoga, New York, the
Anti-Saloon League (ASL) started in 1906 a campaign to ban the sale of alcohol at the state level. Their speeches, advertisements, and public demonstrations claimed that prohibition of alcohol would eliminate poverty and ameliorate social problems such as immoral sexual behavior and violence. The ASL argued that prohibition would inspire new forms of sociability, create happier families, reduce workplace accidents, and improve the world overall.
(Following the repeal of Prohibition, the group merged into the
National Temperance League
The Anti-Saloon League (now known as the ''American Council on Addiction and Alcohol Problems'') is an organization of the temperance movement that lobbied for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century.
Founded in 1893 in Ober ...
.)
Other groups, such as the
Women's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
, also launched efforts to ban the sale, manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages.
Churches were also highly influential in gaining new members and support, garnering 6,000 local societies in several different states. The well-known reformer
Carrie Nation
Caroline Amelia Nation (November 25, 1846June 9, 1911), often referred to by Carrie, Carry Nation, Carrie A. Nation, or Hatchet Granny, was a radical member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. Nat ...
became a household name for her militancy, such as vandalizing saloon property.
Many state legislatures had already enacted statewide prohibition prior to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment but did not ban the consumption of alcohol in most households.
By 1916, 23 of 48 states had already passed laws against saloons, some even banning the manufacture of alcohol.
Proposal and ratification
![19190117 Prohibition - Eighteenth Amendment - The New York Times](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/19190117_Prohibition_-_Eighteenth_Amendment_-_The_New_York_Times.jpg)
On August 1, 1917, the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
passed a resolution containing the language of the amendment to be presented to the
states for ratification. The vote was 65 to 20, with the Democrats voting 36 in favor and 12 in opposition and the Republicans voting 29 in favor and 8in opposition. The
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
passed a revised resolution on December 17, 1917. This was the first amendment to impose a deadline date for ratification. If ratification did not occur before the deadline date, the amendment would be discarded.
In the House, the vote was 282 to 128, with the Democrats voting 141 in favor and 64 in opposition and the Republicans voting 137 in favor and 62 in opposition. Four independents in the House voted in favor and two voted against the amendment.
[David Pietrusza, ''1920: The Year of Six Presidents'' (NY: Carroll & Graf, 2007), 160] It was officially proposed by the Congress to the states when the Senate passed the resolution by a vote of 47 to 8 the next day, December 18.
The amendment and its enabling legislation did not ban the consumption of alcohol outright but prohibited the sale, manufacture and distribution of alcohol in the United States. Those caught selling, manufacturing or distributing alcoholic beverages would be subject to arrest.
The amendment superseded the many state and regional restrictions already in place.
Ratification was achieved on January 16, 1919 when Nebraska became the 36th of the 48 states to ratify the amendment. On January 29, acting secretary of state
Frank L. Polk
Frank Lyon Polk (September 13, 1871 – February 7, 1943) was an American lawyer and diplomat, who was also a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Early life
Polk was born in New York City. He was the son of Wi ...
certified the ratification. By 1922, 46 states had ratified the amendment.
The following states ratified the amendment:
[The dates of proposal, ratifications and certification come fro]
''The Constitution Of The United States Of America Analysis And Interpretation Analysis Of Cases Decided By The Supreme Court Of The United States To July 1, 2014''
United States Senate doc. no. 108-17
at 35 n.10
# Mississippi: January 7, 1918
# Virginia: January 11, 1918
# Kentucky: January 14, 1918
# North Dakota: January 25, 1918
[Effective January 28, 1918, the date on which the North Dakota ratification was approved by the state Governor.]
# South Carolina: January 29, 1918
# Maryland: February 13, 1918
# Montana: February 19, 1918
# Texas: March 4, 1918
# Delaware: March 18, 1918
# South Dakota: March 20, 1918
# Massachusetts: April 2, 1918
# Arizona: May 24, 1918
# Georgia: June 26, 1918
# Louisiana: August 3, 1918
[Effective August 9, 1918, the date on which the Louisiana ratification was approved by the state Governor.]
# Florida: November 27, 1918
# Michigan: January 2, 1919
# Ohio: January 7, 1919
# Oklahoma: January 7, 1919
# Idaho: January 8, 1919
# Maine: January 8, 1919
# West Virginia: January 9, 1919
# California: January 13, 1919
# Tennessee: January 13, 1919
# Washington: January 13, 1919
# Arkansas: January 14, 1919
# Illinois: January 14, 1919
# Indiana: January 14, 1919
# Kansas: January 14, 1919
# Alabama: January 15, 1919
# Colorado: January 15, 1919
# Iowa: January 15, 1919
# New Hampshire: January 15, 1919
# Oregon: January 15, 1919
# North Carolina: January 16, 1919
# Utah: January 16, 1919
# Nebraska: January 16, 1919
# Missouri: January 16, 1919
# Wyoming: January 16, 1919
# Minnesota: January 17, 1919
# Wisconsin: January 17, 1919
# New Mexico: January 20, 1919
# Nevada: January 21, 1919
# New York: January 29, 1919
# Vermont: January 29, 1919
# Pennsylvania: February 25, 1919
# New Jersey: March 9, 1922
Two states rejected the amendment:
# Connecticut
[ ]
# Rhode Island
[
]
To define the language used in the amendment, Congress enacted enabling legislation called the National Prohibition Act, better known as the Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
, on October 28, 1919. President Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
vetoed that bill, but the House of Representatives immediately voted to override the veto and the Senate followed suit the next day. The Volstead Act set the starting date for nationwide prohibition as January 17, 1920, the earliest date allowed by the Eighteenth Amendment.
The Volstead Act
This legislation that would become the National Prohibition Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
was conceived and introduced by Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler (November 10, 1869 – September 5, 1927) was an American attorney and longtime leader of the Anti-Saloon League. The leading advocate of the prohibitionist movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he played a major ...
, a leader of the Anti-Saloon League
The Anti-Saloon League (now known as the ''American Council on Addiction and Alcohol Problems'') is an organization of the temperance movement that lobbied for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century.
Founded in 1893 in Oberl ...
, a group that found alcohol responsible for almost all of society's problems and that also ran many campaigns against the sale of alcohol. The law was strongly supported by the powerful Minnesota Republican congressman Andrew Volstead
Andrew John Volstead () (October 31, 1860 – January 20, 1947) was an American member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, 1903–1923, and a member of the Republican Party. His name is closely associated with the N ...
, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
, whose name came to be informally associated with the act. The act laid the groundwork for Prohibition, defining the procedures for banning the distribution of alcohol, including production and distribution.
Volstead had previously introduced an early version of the law to Congress. It was first brought to the floor on May 27, 1919 but met heavy resistance from Democratic senators. Instead, the so-called "wet law" was introduced, an attempt to end the wartime prohibition laws put into effect much earlier. The debate over prohibition persisted for that entire session, as the House was divided among groups who become known as the "bone-drys" and the "wets." The Volstead Act finally passed the Republican-led House of Representatives on July 22, 1919, with 287 in favor and 100 opposed.
However, the act was largely a failure, proving unable to prevent mass distribution of alcoholic beverages and also inadvertently causing a massive increase in organized crime. The act defined the terms and enforcement methods of Prohibition until the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed it in 1933.
Controversies
The proposed amendment was the first to contain a provision setting a deadline for its ratification. That clause of the amendment was challenged, with the case reaching the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which upheld the constitutionality of such a deadline in the case of ''Dillon v. Gloss
''Dillon v. Gloss'', 256 U.S. 368 (1921), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress, when proposing a constitutional amendment under the authority given to it by Article V of the Constitution, may fix a definit ...
'' (1921). The Supreme Court also upheld the ratification by the Ohio legislature in ''Hawke v. Smith
''Hawke v. Smith'', 253 U.S. 221 (1920), was a United States Supreme Court case coming out of the state of Ohio. It challenged the constitutionality of a provision in the state constitution allowing the state legislature's ratification of federal c ...
'' (1920), despite a petition requiring that the matter proceed to ballot.
This was not the only controversy around the amendment. The phrase "intoxicating liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
" was widely understood to exclude beer and wine (as they are not distilled), and their inclusion in Prohibition surprised many in the general public as well as producers of wine and beer. This controversy caused many Northern states to refuse to abide by the amendment.
Under Prohibition, illegal importation and production of alcoholic beverages (such as rum-running
Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ter ...
and bootlegging) occurred on a large scale nationwide. In urban areas, where the majority of the population tended to oppose Prohibition, enforcement was generally much weaker than in rural areas and smaller towns. Perhaps the most dramatic consequence of Prohibition was its effect on organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. As the production and sale of alcohol went further underground, it began to be controlled by the Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
and other gangs that transformed into sophisticated criminal enterprises that reaped huge profits from the illicit liquor trade.
Organized-crime syndicates became skilled at bribing police and politicians to overlook violations of Prohibition during the 1920s. Chicago's Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
emerged as the most notorious example, earning an estimated $60million annually from his bootlegging and speakeasy operations. Gambling and prostitution also reached new heights, and a growing number of Americans came to blame Prohibition and to condemn it as a dangerous infringement of individual freedom.
Calls for repeal
Public sentiment turned against Prohibition by the late 1920s, and the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
only hastened its demise, as opponents argued that the ban on alcohol denied jobs to the unemployed and much-needed revenue to the government. The efforts of the nonpartisan Association Against the Prohibition Amendment
The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment was established in 1918 and became a leading organization working for the repeal of prohibition in the United States. It was the first group created to fight Prohibition, also known as the 18th Ame ...
(AAPA) added to public disillusionment. In 1932, the platform of Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
included a plank for repealing the 18th Amendment, and his victory that November ensured the end of Prohibition.
In February 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment and modified the Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
to permit the sale of beer. The resolution required state conventions, rather than the state legislatures, to approve the amendment, effectively reducing the process to a one-state, one-vote referendum rather than a popular vote. A few states continued statewide prohibition after 1933, but by 1966 they all had abandoned it.
Impact
Just after the Eighteenth Amendment's adoption, there was a significant reduction in alcohol consumption among the general public and particularly among low-income groups. There were fewer hospitalizations for alcoholism and likewise fewer liver-related medical problems. However, consumption soon climbed as underworld entrepreneurs began producing dangerous "rotgut" alcohol. With the rise of home-distilled alcohol, careless distilling led to as many as 10,000 deaths attributed to wood alcohol (methanol
Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...
) poisoning. However, during Prohibition, the rate of use and abuse of alcohol remained significantly lower than before enactment.
Though Prohibition created a new category of crimes involving the production and distribution of alcohol, there was an initial reduction in crime associated with drunkenness. Those who continued to drink alcohol tended to turn to organized criminal syndicates. Law enforcement could not stop much illicit liquor; however, they used "sting" operations, such as Prohibition agent Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. H ...
famously using wiretapping to uncover secret breweries. The prisons became crowded, which led to fewer arrests for the distribution of alcohol, as well as those arrested being charged with small fines rather than prison time. The murder rate fell for two years, but then rose to record highs due to gangland killings, a trend that reversed the very year prohibition ended. The homicide rate increased from six per 100,000 population in the pre-Prohibition period to nearly ten. Overall, crime rose 24%, including increases in assault and battery, theft, and burglary.
Anti-prohibition groups were formed and worked to have the Eighteenth Amendment repealed, which was done by adoption of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933.
Bootlegging and organized crime
Following ratification in 1919, the amendment's effects were long-lasting, leading to increases in crime in many large cities, such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Along with this came many separate forms of illegal alcohol distribution, such as speakeasies, bootlegging and illegal distilling operations.
Bootlegging started in towns bordering Mexico and Canada as well as in areas with multiple ports and harbors. The alcohol was often supplied by foreign distributors from nations such as Cuba and the Bahamas, and some even came from Newfoundland and islands under French rule.
In response, the government employed the Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
to search and detain ships transporting alcohol into the country, but caused several complications such as disputes over national jurisdiction areas at sea. Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. became a frequent location for smuggling operations because of a shipping point nearly three miles offshore that officials could not investigate, further complicating enforcement. The Coast Guard was not well-equipped to chase down bootlegging vessels but began searching ships at sea instead of when they arrived at port, and upgraded its boats to facilitate more efficient and consistent arrests.
One complication that plagued the government's enforcement efforts involved forged prescriptions for alcoholic beverages. Many forms of alcohol were sold over the counter purportedly for medical purposes, but some manufacturers falsified evidence that their products were of medicinal value.
Bootlegging was the leading factor in the development of organized-crime rings in large cities, as controlling and distributing liquor was very difficult. Many profitable gangs controlled every aspect of the distribution process, such as concealed brewing and storage, operation of speakeasys, and selling alcohol in restaurants and nightclubs run by crime syndicates. With organized crime becoming a rising problem, control of specific territories was a key objective among gangs, leading to many violent confrontations such as the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 14, ...
; as a result, murder rates and burglaries dramatically increased between 1920 and 1933. Bootlegging was also found to be a gateway crime for many gangs who would then expand into crimes such as prostitution, gambling rackets, narcotics, loan sharking, extortion and labor rackets, thus causing problems that persisted long after the amendment was repealed.
See also
* Dry county
A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Dozens of dry counties exist across the ...
Notes
References
External links
''The Constitution Of The United States Of America: Analysis And Interpretation: Analysis Of Cases Decided By The Supreme Court Of The United States To June 28, 2002''
United States Senate doc. no. 108–17.
{{DEFAULTSORT:18
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...
Amendments to the United States Constitution
Prohibition in the United States
Repealed United States legislation
1919 in the United States
1919 in American politics