Prohibition and Its Effects

The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in January 1919 and enacted in January 1920, outlawed the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors. This amendment was the culmination of decades of effort by organizations much(prenominal) as the Womans Christian Temperance aggregate and the Anti-Saloon League, and built upon the dry laws of eighteen states. The restraint Amendment had pro form consequences: it do brewing and distilling illegal, expanded state and federal government, inspired reinvigorated forms of sociability between men and women, and suppressed elements of immigrant and working-class culture.

During the Prohibition eras first years, amendment supporters were gratified by a decline in arrests for drunkenness, hospitalization for alcoholism, and instances of liver-related medical problems. These statistics seemed to validate their excite and to suggest that Americas future might imply happier families, fewer industrial accidents, and a superior moral tone.

The put up of mass disobedience to prohibition laws took the amendments advocates by surprise. heap who could afford the high price of dim liquor flocked to speakeasies and separate joints. These establishments could be quite glamorous.



Whereas pre-Prohibition saloons had seldom welcomed women, the new world of nightclubs invited some(prenominal) the bob-haired flapper and her sheik to drink cocktails, smoke, and dance to jazz.

Working-class consumption mostly moved from saloons into the home. Bathtub gin and moonshine took the place of mass-produced liquor, and hosts might use additives to turn grape juice into drink for their guests. Americans who sought to remain in the liquor business found ways to redistill the alcohol in perfume, paint, and carpentry supplies. They continued redistilling compensate after learning that many of these products contained poisons meant to deter such transformations.

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