Causes And Effects Of The 18th Amendment

“Constitution prohibited manufacture, sale, transportation, and importation of intoxicating liquors”’. Prohibition began in colonial times when milk and water would spoil, so many people would have to drink alcohol. Back then, water was unreliable, and people drank liquor for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Drunkenness was a norm, and liquor was being imported from the south constantly. Many amendments impacted American History, and one of them is the Eighteenth. The 18th Amendment influenced American History due to its causes, processes, and effects.

There were many causes of the Eighteenth amendment including men being greatly affected, prohibition groups beginning, and alcohol being necessary at the beginning of the US. In colonial

The era of prohibition started in 1920. Thirteen out of thirty states had outlawed prohibition already, but World War One had made its way to the US, and people needed jobs. Breweries and distilleries were opening up all over the country again. When the war had ended, there were wet (people for prohibition) and dry (people against prohibition) in the government. There were lobbiers wanting prohibition to come back. Many organizations such as the Anti saloon league, WCTN, and Prohibition Party were very much for alcohol. Women were also gaining more rights, and they were in favor of prohibition as well. During World War Two, many brewers were German, and drinking was considered unpatriotic, so prohibition came back. In December 1917 the eighteenth amendment was proposed. It stated that “The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes within the United States and all territory subject to its jurisdiction, as well as their importation into and exportation from said country, is hereby prohibited after one year following the ratification of this article”(Constitution of the United States). These processes impacted American History because they led to the effects of the eighteenth

After the amendment was ratified, the Volstead Act was created to enforce it. It failed, however, as a result of most adults wanting to keep drinking. The Volstead Act also made the limit to alcohol percentage .5% instead of 3%. When prohibition started, crime outside of alcohol went down, but there were a lot more felonies related to alcohol. There were bootleggers, rum runners, and speakeasies that still had alcohol and sold it illegally. Gangs started to pop up all over the country and made millions of dollars off of illegal sales. Instead of alcoholics there were criminal gangs, and organized crime was very popular. Alcohol-related deaths, health problems, and alcohol syndrome were big problems. People were still consuming even though The FBI was trying hard to stop it. At first, drinking rates went down by about 30%, but then they spiked to even higher. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified. The purpose was to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment as the cause of the bad effects it had on The US. The effects of the eighteenth Amendment impacted American History as a result of the 21st Amendment, and lots of crime and illegal sale of