Prohibition

14 Pages 3604 Words

Prohibition and the 1920’s

The 1920’s are often described as the decade of contrast and conflicts. It was a decade that some would say was the worst decade in American history. The 18th amendment to the constitution was passed by congress in 1917. It was ratified by three fourths of the states by 1919. This amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages within the boundaries of the United States of America. Prohibition was officially underway. The Volsted Act of 1919 defined an alcoholic beverage clearly as any beverage with an alcoholic content of greater than .5 %. This made it illegal to sell and manufacture all liquor and beer. (Shultz 1)
Prohibition was a phenomenon during the 20’s. It was not however the first campaign against alcohol, but it was by far the most successful. There had been numerous anti-alcohol campaigns during the colonial period. None of which were as successful as the national prohibition laws in the 20’s. For example in 1851 the Maine Law prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state of Maine. By 1855 thirteen other states had adopted similar laws. During the Civil War alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the union army as a way to ration grain.
Leaders of the social movements tried to justify their views against alcohol with scientific evidence. Temperance advocates founded the Scientific Temperance Journal after the Civil War. Children’s textbooks depicted human organs degenerating from and over abundance of alcoholic beverages being consumed. In the 1870’s the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) promoted the use of public education for the cause of temperance. They were very successful with that. By 1902 every state and territory except for Arizona had a law requiring temperance instruction in public schools. They argued that immigrants were inferior to the Americans because they allow their children to drink alcohol at...