Argumentative Essay On The Eighteenth Amendment

Every year 88,000 deaths are attributed to excessive alcohol use or alcohol related events; alcoholism is the third leading lifestyle related cause of death in the United States (“Facts About Alcohol”). During the early twentieth century, there were many overlying problems that the United States government, or braches of the government, had to deal with. The United States government had to deal with problems such as child labor, alcohol, women wanting rights, corruption, and then reform. These were some of the major issues in which people in government positions had to deal with and find a solution for. Faced with the problem of an increase in the number of people incarcerated and overcrowded prisons as well as an increase in domestic abuse and criminal activity, the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives chose to ratify the

Andrew Volstead, a representative from Minnesota, as well as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, came up with the solution. Representative Volstead came up with the solution of completely banning alcohol based upon the temporary ban that was placed upon alcohol during the times of war. After Representative Volstead drew up the eighteenth amendment; the bill of the eighteenth amendment then went through both houses of Congress and both houses passed the eighteenth amendment. “On January 29, 1919, Congress ratified the eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States; it would go into effect the following January,” (“18th and 21st Amendments”). The bill of the eighteenth amendment then went to President Woodrow Wilson who vetoed the eighteenth amendment, but Congress overrode his veto and the bill of the eighteenth amendment became a law known as the eighteenth amendment, it is also called the Volstead Act, named after the author of the