The Negative Consequences Of Prohibition

When does the government have the right to legislate morality? Prohibition taught the American government the negative consequences of controlling what people do or how they act and showed what happens when the government tries to legislate morality. The 18th amendment, which was also known as the Prohibition, prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol (George, Robert P). The 18th amendment was passed on January 16, 1919, but did not go into effect until January 16, 1920 (Hoyt, Alai). This started the Prohibition Era in America (Hoyt, Alai). Prohibition created significant conflict with Americans who were against such government control. The 18th Amendment was put into effect to try and legislate morality. To try and fix the unintended conflicts that came with the Prohibition the 18th Amendment was repealed and the 21 Amendment was enacted as a compromise between those who were in favor of Prohibition.

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For example, many people began to go to speakeasies to get illegal alcohol. Speakeasies were illegal places that secretly sold illegal alcohol during the Prohibition (Speakeasies). This was one of many methods people used for getting illegal alcohol during prohibition (1920s). During the Prohibition there were twice as many speakeasies as there were legal restaurants before the 18th Amendment went into effect (Behr, Edward). Many citizens did not want to compromise their right to choose to drink alcohol. Instead some of them drank illegally at speakeasies. They called it a speakeasy because people would have to whisper a secret word to be able to get in. Many speakeasies had hidden compartments that hid their alcohol for when the police came to expect (Speakeasies). Some speakeasies had hidden compartments that were not as well hidden than others. This led to many speakeasies being discovered and shut down due to the deficiency of their hidden