The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited the production, transport, and sale of alcohol, leading to the Prohibition era and an increase in illegal activity and organized crime. The amendment failed to create a nationwide temperance movement and was eventually repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. The problems created by organized crime were partially resolved by allowing the sale, production, and transportation of alcohol again.
The 18th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1919 and became one of the short-lived and deeply controversial amendments. With this amendment, the production, transport and sale of alcohol was prohibited. It was passed with the Volstead Act, which helped define those beverages considered alcoholic and defined as “intoxicating liquor” as containing 0.5% alcohol or more.
Taken together, the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act ushered in the Prohibition era in the United States, which significantly increased illegal activity and the rise of crime lords like Al Capone, who made much of his money. through the illegal production, sale and transportation of alcohol. The amendment failed to create a nationwide temperance movement. It can be said that the pervasiveness of operations large and small to provide people with access to alcohol has contributed to these beverages still being widely available, albeit illegal.
Part of the impetus in the various temperance movement groups that helped lobby Congress to pass the law was religious in nature, although there were other reasons why women were particularly in favor of banning alcohol . As today, domestic violence against women tended to be more significant in homes where alcohol was used excessively. There were strong opponents of the temperance movement who were also strongly religious, however, and the split between support and opposition to the bill cannot be seen as a total separation between religious and non-religious.
While the 18th amendment may have ended the alcoholic careers of some, its passage created more social problems. First, alcohol was still widely available, so it didn’t necessarily mean that people had stopped drinking, and those who were alcoholics most likely continued to drink regularly. The increase in organized crime has been more significant and has created an increase in violence, especially in urban areas. Not all people were even eager to enforce the laws, since many did not support them.
Continued pressure to repeal the law applied to US leaders and eventually the amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment, ratified in 1933. This amendment also rendered the provisions of the Volstead Act unconstitutional and thus affected the heart the temperance movement and the goal of prohibition. The problems created by organized crime were partially resolved by allowing the sale, production and transportation of alcohol again, although organized crime in various forms still continued to proliferate.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
