18th Amendment Ratification

Did the United States show weakness by giving in to its people? The 18th and 21st Amendments of the United States Constitution just might shed some light on the situation. The ratification of the 18th Amendment, January 16, 1919, stirred up feelings of the American people. Americans started to express their thoughts and shared them with the government, this led to the ratification of the 21st amendment, December 5, 1933. This act of the United States government was made to please the people, some consider it a trade-off for America. The act of ratifying and repealing the 18th amendment was a compromise the American government made to keep peace in the country. The 18th Amendment, an amendment that was passed to limit the use of alcohol. This

The movement’s main goal was to stop the selling and drinking of alcoholic products. The idea of prohibition started in the 1800s with the group called American Temperance Society. The group was founded in 1826 and their main objective was to get the people to voluntarily pull themselves away from alcohol (“Prohibition”). Religions also joined this line of thinking and they became a big advocate for the movement. Women began to speak up too, as they would tell how their husbands would not support their family, and some would even speak how their husbands beat them while they were drunk. They saw alcohol as a substance that destroyed families and marriages. The women who were against alcohol consumption founded the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Cleveland, Ohio in November, 1874 (“Women's Christian Temperance Union”). Their voices began to get heard and it raised concerns with the common people. People began to want a better society to live in, which later became known as the Progressive era which took place from the 1890’s to the 1920’s (“The Progressive Era”). Individuals began to understand the effects of alcohol consumption and wanted a better world for themselves and their future

The 21st amendment is the only amendment in the United States Constitution that repeals another, and the only amendment that was ratified not using state legislatures, but by state ratifying conventions (George and Richards). The second section of the 21st Amendment states, “The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited” (George and Richards). This opens up alcoholic beverages and substances up to the American