ipl-logo

Repeal The 18th Amendment Essay

644 Words3 Pages

In 1933, the United States Congress made history, doing something that had never been done before. By popular vote, Congressmen decided to repeal the 18th Amendment which banned the consumption, purchase, and transportation of alcohol, and alcoholic beverages (Background Essay). This is the only time in United States history where Congress removed an amendment from The Constitution. When Congress passed the 18th Amendment in December of 1917, it seemed like the right thing to do, as alcohol seemed to be the cause of domestic abusers, hungover, drunk, or absent employees, but after 14 alcohol free years, three out of every four Americans were in favor of repeal (Background Essay). One question historians ask themselves is “Why did Congress make alcohol legal again?” America changed its mind about alcohol, because during Prohibition crime was at an all-time high, law enforcement was at an all-time low, and America was suffering, economically. …show more content…

As shown by the political cartoon made by Winsor McCoy, acts of organized crime made by gangsters, racketeers, bootleggers, and dope sellers (with the help of the Prohibition) led to the Great Depression. With all of these factors eventually leading to the largest economic downfall in United States history, it’s easy to see why American citizens wanted to remove the ban on alcohol. Also, the FBI Uniform Crime Reports show the number of homicides increased during Prohibition and decreased after Prohibition. In the crime report, the homicide rate increased from 7 homicides per 100,000 people to 10 homicides per 100,000 people during the Prohibition, and decreasing to 6 homicides per 100,000 people. This evidence points to the fact that crime and criminal activity played a huge part in the removal of the 18th

Show More
Related

18th Amendment Essay

111 Words | 1 Pages

It would take 13 years until the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first came into effect because by the end of the 1920s many Americans were already growing tired of the decision. America was facing an economic depression and the government knew that if they legalized alcohol sales that there would be a good amount of revenue coming through to help get them through the crisis. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt who was against Prohibition ran against President Herbert Hoover and won the election. Once Roosevelt was in office, they were able to finally appeal the amendment and the Prohibition era was no more, much to the delight of the

Read More

Pros And Cons Of The 18th Amendment

1197 Words | 5 Pages

Back In 1920, there is a kind of believe that revolves around the American society during that period - people see alcohol as a bad thing, meanwhile they also think that the consumption of alcohol is bad, as it will lead to other troubles such as the rise of criminal activities. People also believed that by drinking alcohol, it will endanger American’s health, and lower an individual’s productivity. Therefore, the government ended up decided to crackdown on alcohol, and thus, the 18th amendment is created. The 18th amendment will prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol in the United States. However, the 18th amendment did not work as it intended to be, it did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, instead, it

Read More

1920s Dbq Analysis

471 Words | 2 Pages

In 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in America (Doc B). Prohibitionists overlooked the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. Thus, there was tension between the modernists and the traditionalists. Although the amendment was passed, alcohol was still distributed illegally. Actually, prohibition spawned many crimes, such as illegal sale of alcohol and gang wars.

Read More

18th Amendment Of Prohibition Dbq Essay

533 Words | 3 Pages

Alcohol is horrible for the body, but it might be good for the country. The 18th Amendment was approved on December 18, 1917 by Congress to take away alcohol in the United States. This was followed by the Volstead Act that defined a drink as intoxicating if it contained more than 1% alcohol. This eliminated beer, wine, and other soft liquors. America later repealed the Amendment.

Read More

How Did The Eighteenth Amendment Make A Change In The Great Gatsby

143 Words | 1 Pages

The months before going into the 1920's and the prohibition movement was marked with people abusing their right to have a drink here and there. When the Americans passed the eighteenth amendment in 1919 it made a change in the way the people acted because some would not even drink at all. The eighteenth amendment was passed to ban the production, sale, and use of alcohol. As the eighteenth was published, the problem of trying to enact this law was getting the Americans to obey the law was a great responsibility as drunks illegally continued to drink alcohol. Throughout this time period, numerous people came forward on both sides of the war against and for prohibition.

Read More

18th Amendment Essay

850 Words | 4 Pages

For example, there were about 15,000 legal drinking establishments in New York before the 18th Amendment and 32,000 illegal ones after. Thus, the 18th Amendment increased the opportunities for drinking, when it’s purpose was to stop drinking entirely. Liquor was also often made inside people’s homes from ingredients that were commonly sold. It is estimated that Americans made 700 million gallons of liquor in makeshift stills sold by hardware stores.

Read More

Prohibition Dbq Essay

486 Words | 2 Pages

Many people also saw drinking as a huge drag on the economy and wasting money on alcohol was unpatriotic. Prohibition lasted for about 13 years, it was the banning of alcohol manufacturing, transporting, and selling in the United States. America repealed the 18th amendment which ended prohibition because of crime, weak enforcement with lack of respect for the law and economic reasons. One of the reasons the federal government repealed prohibition was because of the increase of crimes.

Read More

Essay On The 18th Amendment

758 Words | 4 Pages

Most people obeyed the law; after Prohibition was enacted, deaths from liver cirrhosis did notably decrease. However, the path chosen to protect women and children from alcoholic husbands and fathers was too tricky. The alcohol sold on the black market was unregulated and sold at high prices, it was made more potent and dangerous. Organized crime ascended and prospered because of the new market the 18th Amendment created. The national government was called to try to stop people from their alcoholic tendencies, but the national government should not have to look at local or domestic problems such as these.

Read More

The Progressive Era And Its Amendments By Sam Eskey

837 Words | 4 Pages

Violence, riots, and domestic abuse are very common as a result of alcohol consumption. People of this time wanted a way to get rid of the negative effects of alcohol and what better way then to ban alcohol altogether? The 18th amendment says, “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited”. Though the thought behind the amendment was good, people did not want to give up drinking alcohol. To many people, alcohol was a way to wind down and relax after a long day of working in the factories, which were generally very unpleasant in many ways.

Read More

Prohibition Dbq Essay

780 Words | 4 Pages

America was losing money by not having alcohol sales to gather taxes. Without these taxes, the United States lost lots of money. According to Document E, the people in Congress had known about these illegal alcohol sales and taxed the violators for their profits, America could have had as much as $200,000,000 dollars or more for emergency needs whilst repaying the current American debt at the time. The economic state of America caused Americans to change their minds about Prohibition because the United States was losing more money by the day because they didn't know about the sales of alcohol and the tax, they were losing from

Read More

Alcohol In The 1920's

4006 Words | 17 Pages

It is evident that alcohol has caused many conflicts throughout the years. It negatively impacts the body, creates problems with relationships, and is linked to domestic violence. Especially in America during the 1920’s, many new societies were established to help ban the manufacturing and sale of alcohol, since there were many different viewpoints on whether or not Prohibition was a smart decision. The Anti-Saloon League, Temperance Movement, Progressive Movement, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the 21st Amendment and the Volstead Act are all a part of the conflicts that circle the history of alcohol. The 18th Amendment was created to put the problems surrounding alcohol to an end and it was further known as Prohibition.

Read More

A Synthesis Essay: The Role Of Prohibition In The United States

1432 Words | 6 Pages

But we must take into consideration the general outturn of prohibition, not just decreased alcoholic beverages consumption. Prohibition had prevalent effects on every feature of alcohol production, import, transport and sale. In summary, prohibition did not attain its objectives it was a Failure, it added complexity to the problems rather than solving them. The only people who benefited from this act where crimes bosses and bootleggers. On December 5, 1933, Prohibition in the United States ended with the passage of the 21th Amendment to the United States

Read More

The Early Prohibition Movement In The 1920's

612 Words | 3 Pages

Many people then bought alcohol from smugglers called bootleggers and generally showed disrespect towards the law of Prohibition. Later by the 1920s, people felt that the Prohibition law failed and during the Great Depression, they claimed that because of Prohibition, people couldn’t work and criminals were receiving money rather than the government. Finally, the Congress passed the Twenty-First Amendment that repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. States now have complete control over alcohol laws and alcohol consumption increased plenty afterwards. Pauline Sabin, president of the Women’s National Republican Club was against Prohibition and favored the 18th Amendment.

Read More

Prohibition's Failure Essay

462 Words | 2 Pages

Prohibition led to the rise of organized crime and failed as a policy due to many loopholes and large numbers of corrupt officials. Though started with good intentions it was not a good policy because it destroyed jobs and attempted to destroy an industry. These reasons lead to Prohibition’s failure and the repealing of the 18th Amendment in

Read More

Prohibition In The 1920s

469 Words | 2 Pages

Although more than two-thirds of the Senate, two-thirds of the House of Representatives, and three-fourths of the state legislatures approved Prohibition, after fourteen years, America changed its stance of the situation involving intoxicating liquors. An “intoxicating liquor” can be defined as any beverage that contains alcohol. In early 1920, the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, which were passed by Congress, prohibited the manufacturing, selling, transporting, possession, and use of alcoholic beverages. One reason for the approval of prohibition is that drinking was thought of the major reason behind some of America’s serious problems, which included corruption, child abuse, crime, and unemployment. Although it can be thought of as “morally correct,” Prohibition failed for the following reasons: it increased crime rates, led to a rise in homicides, the attempt to enforce prohibition laws,

Read More

More about Repeal The 18th Amendment Essay

Related Topics

Open Document