Prohibition repeal

The Event Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment’s prohibition of alcoholic beverages

Dates Twenty-first Amendment passed by Congress on February 20, 1933, and ratified on December 5, 1933

The federal government opted to overturn the Eighteenth Amendment, which had prohibited the making, selling, and distribution of alcohol in the United States. This unprecedented decision turned the alcohol business, which had been dominated by such organized crime figures as Al Capone, from an illegal racket into a legitimate business opportunity.

In 1919, the necessary number of state legislatures ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, creating a national prohibition of alcohol within one year of its passage. The ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ushered in a historical period in the United States known as Prohibition. Based on this amendment, manufacturing, distributing, and selling any type of alcoholic beverage anywhere within the United States became a federal crime.

Temperance Movement

Passage of the Eighteenth Amendment was the direct result of a social and moral campaign in the country known as the temperance movement, which had its financial backing from the Anti-Saloon League. This group was made up of wealthy, morally conservative businesspeople and politicians who were strongly opposed to alcohol usage. This particular movement called for more active involvement by the government to ensure that alcohol was banned outright because it only led to immoral behavior. In fact, various women’s and Christian organizations, such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, played crucial roles in bringing about Prohibition. Proponents truly believed that banning alcoholic beverages would alleviate or even eliminate many social problems, particularly poverty, crime, and mental illness, which, by consequence, would lead to a major reduction in taxes. The Eighteenth Amendment was written by lawyers associated with temperance organizations and put into law by the federal Volstead Act in 1919, the same year in which the amendment was ratified. Its passage was celebrated by alcohol prohibitionists throughout the country as much as it was protested by alcohol supporters.

Backlash

The idea that spawned the temperance movement backfired. Public support for the law was never strong throughout the 1920’s. To get around the ban on alcohol, many Americans joined local clubs known as speakeasies, at which illegal alcoholic beverages were served at inflated prices. Crime rates soared during the Prohibition era, as organized-crime figures made millions of dollars on illegal alcohol sales. Additionally, corruption and illegal activities crossed over into various local and state governments; public servants ranging from police officers to well-known politicians also profited from the illicit alcohol business. Illegal empires resulting from bootlegging cropped up during this time. The American Mafia spread through numerous cities, most notably Chicago and New York.

Throughout the late 1920’s, Prohibitionists continued to argue that Prohibition would work if enforcement was increased. However, this was not the case. In actuality, the longer Prohibition remained, the more tax dollars were used to deal with the federal law’s negative impact on the American public. Law-enforcement agencies at every level of American government were investing expensive resources to combat Prohibition-related crimes. To complicate matters further, federal, state, and local agencies often disagreed about who was primarily responsible for enforcing various laws relating to Prohibition. State and federal court dockets became overcrowded with cases resulting from such disputes, and jails were filled with people convicted of Prohibition-related crimes. Not surprisingly, growing numbers of Americans supported repealing the Eighteenth Amendment to end Prohibition. Their demands led to the framing of the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Rethinking Prohibition

Throughout the late 1920’s and into the early 1930’s, support for Prohibition diminished among voters and politicians alike. Supporters of repeal believed that the Constitution should not be involved with issues relating to public morals and that alcohol control and taxation should be state and local government responsibilities. Influential and politically connected businessmen created the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, asking for the immediate repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. Additionally, women had been granted the right to vote in 1920 and some strongly advocated the repeal of Prohibition, because many believed that the effects of Prohibition were destroying families. One such female activist, Pauline Sabin, who founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform in 1929, argued that repeal would protect families from the moral corruption and crime that were direct results of the illegal alcohol business. This organization alone boasted a membership in the hundreds of thousands.

As the early 1930’s progressed, the number of repeal organizations and the demand for repeal increased. Moreover, the issue of repeal became a major political tool for elections when in 1932 the Democratic Party included a provision for the repeal of Prohibition; a move that many believe helped secure the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimates indicate that by this particular presidential election, close to three-fourths of American voters, along with an estimated forty-six states, favored repeal.

Repeal

As more and more Americans began to publicly oppose Prohibition, the political push for repeal also grew. However, repealing a constitutional amendment was not an easy process. Although the U.S. Constitution outlines two methods for ratifying constitutional amendments, only one method had been used up to that point in history. This process called for ratification by the state legislatures of three-fourths of all the states. However, federal lawmakers knew that many state legislators were hesitant to go against the temperance movement, so they opted to propose the formal repeal of Prohibition using state conventions, the other ratification method established by Article V.

On December 6, 1932, Senator John Blaine of Wisconsin submitted a resolution to Congress proposing a formal submission to the states of a new amendment to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment. On February 20, 1933, Congress voted for the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment, and on the following day, the amendment was sent to the state governors to be disbursed and decided on at individual state conventions. The Twenty-first Amendment is the only amendment that has been ratified through the use of the state convention process.

Of additional historical significance was the fact that the federal government, as part of the Twenty-first Amendment, stipulated that each state should be able to establish its own laws regarding alcohol, further permitting more individual powers to the states. While the states deliberated on the issue, President-elect Roosevelt asked Congress to amend the Volstead Act to permit the sale of beer containing 3.2 percent alcohol or less. Within nine days, Congress complied and legalized beer. On December 5, 1933, less than one year after the Twenty-first Amendment was submitted for ratification, the required thirty-six states had ratified the amendment. At 7:00 p.m. that same evening, President Roosevelt signed the proclamation officially ending Prohibition. Federal Prohibition laws were immediately repealed. Some U.S. states, however, continued Prohibition within their jurisdictions. In fact, almost two-thirds of all states adopted some form of local alternative that enabled residents in political districts to vote for or against local Prohibition. However, by 1966, all states had repealed their state-level Prohibition laws, giving the ultimate power regarding alcohol consumption and distribution to counties and municipalities at the local level of government.

Impact

With the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment, alcohol laws changed throughout the United States. During the thirteen-year period that alcohol was prohibited in the United States, many social problems became manifest, especially crime. By repealing the Eighteenth Amendment and giving individual states the right to create and enact their own laws regarding alcohol, the government hoped to address many of the social problems that were created by passage of the original Prohibition legislation.

The end of national Prohibition took most of the alcohol trade away from criminal organizations, but many of these organizations had grown so strong under Prohibition that they continued to operate by shifting to other illegal activities. Another legacy of Prohibition was the unanswered question of the propriety of government to legislate morality.

Bibliography

Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New York: Arcade, 1997. Provides a detailed historical overview of how Prohibition changed the United States for the worse. Highlights specific examples of criminal organizations that were conceived because of the illegal alcohol business.

Engdahl, Sylvia. Amendments XVIII and XXI: Prohibition and Repeal. Detroit, Mich.: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Concise work offering a comprehensive yet clear look at how both the Eighteenth and the Twenty-first Amendments had such a dramatic impact on the American public during the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Kyvig, David E. Repealing National Prohibition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979. Provides a comprehensive overview of how Prohibition impacted the United States, especially economically and socially, during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Detailed explanations of the illegal consequences of Prohibition provide a better understanding of its impact on crime in the United States during this time.

Rose, Kenneth D. American Women and the Repeal of Prohibition. New York: New York University Press, 1997. Discusses how American women helped spark a movement for the repeal of Prohibition. Highlights specific women’s groups in the light of the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment.

Severn, William. The End of the Roaring Twenties: Prohibition and Repeal. New York: Julian Messner, 1969. Overview of the changes in the United States because of Prohibition. Highlights the impact of the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment on the American people.

Thorton, Mark. The Economics of Prohibition. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1991. Looks at who profited from the illicit sale of alcohol during Prohibition. Provides details regarding how alcohol spurred the foundation of the Mafia in the United States.