The ’20s Prohibition was a period of time from 1920 - 1933 during which the production, manufacturing, and selling of alcohol were banned in the United States of America.On December 18, 1917, the 18th amendment was proposed by Congress. The states ratified the amendment and passed it on January 16, 1919.The 18th amendment prohibited the manufacturing, transportation, and selling of intoxicating liquids in America. The prohibition began one year after the passing of this amendment on January 17, 1920. Before the 18th Amendment, Congress had passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which came into effect on June 30, 1919. This act banned selling alcohol drinks that had alcohol content greater than 2.75%. This was done in an effort to save grain for soldiers in First World War.The National Prohibition Act, also called the Volstead Act, was enacted to establish a prohibition on alcohol on October 28, 1919. Woodrow Wilson, the then President of the United States, vetoed the bill, but it was overridden by the House, and Senate of the US Congress. The act defined what intoxicating liquors were, regulated, the production, manufacture, and use of alcohol for other purposes that did not include alcoholic beverages, and ensured the availability of alcohol for scientific purposes, dye, or fuel. Thus, a law was put in place to check production in the brewing industry.The spread of the Temperance Movement had been a major cause of the ’20s Prohibition Act, leading to the beginning of the Prohibition era. The Temperance movement was started against the consumption of alcohol. Its followers believed that drinking alcohol caused bad effects on the body, personality, and lifestyle of people. They also argued that alcohol was the reason for social evils that affected our society, such as poverty, domestic violence, crime, and gambling. The movement was religiously motivated with support from churches.The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was a major influential figure in this movement. The movement was also taken up by the National Prohibition Party and the Anti-Saloon League. First World War helped the Anti-Saloon League in passing the 18th Amendment as anti-German sentiments were high and most breweries were run by German-Americans. Buying alcohol from them was considered akin to a betrayal of America.Bootlegging of alcohol from foreign states like Mexico or Canada flourished, bypassing the law. The rampant underground criminal gangs and black market alcohol were signs enough that prohibition had not been successful. The law was broken and alcohol was imported.Facts about the Prohibition era are interesting, right? If you are interested in this article, after reading this, why not also read ’20s fashion facts or 1920 entertainment facts here on Kidadl?Fun Facts About ’20s ProhibitionThe ’20s National prohibition of alcohol, defined as a great social and noble experiment, was created to tackle problems that were rampant in America during this time. These problems included crime, corruption, poverty, domestic violence, the tax burden of prisons and poorhouses, health issues, and hygiene nuisance.A large number of the American population was still keen on drinking and to fill the supply to this demand, illegal operations like bootlegging and speakeasies became popular. Bootlegging is the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor and speakeasies were stores and nightclubs that sold alcoholic beverages illegally. These activities were done by local criminals and were later organized into nationwide operations. Liquor was also smuggled from across state lines. Illegal preparation of moonshine or bathtub gin was common practice inside homes.The smuggling and bootlegging of illegal alcohol also lead to an increase in gang and mafia activity. Bootlegging and Speakeasies were considered seriously profitable businesses. Gangsters like ’lucky’ Luciano in New York city, Al Capone, and ‘BUGS’ Moran in Chicago were few among many who earned billions from alcohol sales.Eliot Ness was hired as a special agent in the U.S Department of Justice in 1929, heading the Prohibition Bureau in Chicago. His explicit purpose was to investigate and arrest Al Capone. Ness and his gang of Untouchables were called so because they did not accept bribes, which led to the arrest and jailing of Al Capone in 1932 for tax evasion. In 1851, Maine had become the first state to ban alcohol.Several states followed Maine’s example but, Kansas was the first state to prohibit alcohol in its constitution. It was made a misdemeanor in November 1880 after voters passed the amendment. The taxation of alcohol was considered a ‘sin tax’ and it was believed by the lawmakers that the high duty levied on alcohol would discourage them from consuming it. Several economists were in favor of the prohibition as they believed that it solved the problem of ‘Blue Monday’, which was the wasting of Mondays of the week because of Sunday night’s drinking.The prohibition had been debated in the Supreme Court of the United States as well. In the Mugler Vs Kansas case of 1886, the Supreme Court had ruled that alcohol was evil. A number of false myths and beliefs were spread about alcohol to deter people from using it .These included: alcohol turns your blood into water, alcohol could cause your brain to catch on fire, second-hand alcohol smell by pregnant women could harm fetuses, and that the liver could increase to 25 lb (11.34 kg) because of alcohol consumption. Such misinformation and exaggeration were commonplace in this era and were used by the prohibitionist to warn against alcoholic beverages. The agents and law enforcement were very uneven and biased in enforcing prohibition. This meant the law was not implemented properly.The wealthy received favor in the form of ‘medicinal’ alcohol from pharmacies. Congressmen had their own supplier and the White House was stacked with alcohol. While the law was being strictly enforced upon the poor population, urban immigrants, and the Black communities. Because of the anti-immigrant sentiment of the movement, the diminished Ku Klux Klan rose again. It saw a rise in its support from the prohibitionist. The racist organization also helped in raids of saloons and illegal liquor operations when the police were lacking in funds and people.Income tax was one of the chief reasons that the ban on liquor was approved. Because of the financial incentive of income tax, the possibility of not taxing alcohol was considered. The brand name was a big deal as cheap liquor could kill people. Unregulated booze led to the familiar brand names of foreign countries, creating booze specifically for the US market.During the prohibition era, breweries had no means of survival so they took to selling things like ice cream, pottery, and non-alcoholic beer. When the desperation for alcohol was high, people choose to brew their own beers at home. This was done with the help of making baking extract, the malt extract. Malt extract was bought in huge qualities from shops and even breweries shifted to selling them.A number of inventions and customs that we follow in the modern world can be traced back to the prohibition era. Like children’s menu which was encouraged by Waldorf-Astoria, during this time as liquor ban had resulted in a lack of patrons for restaurants. Therefore they turned to young children and offered them custom menus.The custom of tipping was also made popular in the prohibition era. The ban of liquor resulted in people not going out to restaurants anymore, this resulted in a loss of revenue. The wage of the servers was cut and people were encouraged to tip them to make up for this cut. NASCAR was also invented as a result of the ’20s prohibition. For the bootleggers to outrun the police they needed faster getaways. Fast driving became popular and even when the prohibition era was over the custom of driving fast remained.Winemakers had begun selling dried grape juice which came with instructions on how not to soak it and convert it into wine. Slangs for alcohol become popular. Some examples are bathtub gin, whale, blotto, and juice joint. Before the prohibition, men and women drank separately. After the ban, the speakeasies, which were already running an illegal business saw no use in separating them. It became the norm for men and women to drink together, while jazz played in crowded rooms.The sale of alcoholic beverages was banned except for religious, medical, and a few other industrial purposes. But, this loophole was exploited by doctors, and millions of prescriptions were written for the medicinal use of alcohol. Drug stores and doctors are said to have profited during this period.Facts About The Impact Of ’20s ProhibitionThe ’20s prohibition did help in curbing alcohol consumption towards the beginning of the era. Alcohol consumption declined by 30%. But, in the next few years, it increased sharply up to 60-70 % as compared to before prohibition.Prohibition had unintended consequences like the rise in organized crime because of illegal production and sale of alcohol, increase in corruption of public officials, rampant smuggling across American borders, loss in tax revenue, crowding of the prison and court systems, and loss of jobs from the brewing and wine industry. The wins in comparison to the disadvantages were few.There had not been any rampant increase in productivity. Though the rate of liver cirrhosis, alcoholic psychosis, and infant mortality had declined during the ’20s prohibition period, however deaths due to unregulated alcohol had increased by a lot.This era of bootleggers and organized crime led to increase in the black market sale of alcohol. This had dangerous consequences for public health because as the trade become more profitable the quality of alcohol seriously declined. 1000 Americans per year, on average, are estimated to have died from black-market liquor. The penalty prescribed in the Volstead Act for the illegal manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol did not exceed $10,000 or imprisonment up to five years.As an effect of the prohibition, the economy took a major hit, thanks to lost tax revenue and legal jobs. Treasury Department and the Coast Guard had employed 1520 prohibition agents, most of whom were untrained to take care of smugglers, bootleggers, and homebrewers. The federal government is estimated to have lost $11 billion in tax money and $300 million was spent to enforce prohibition. The start of the Great Depression (1929-1939) caused a huge change in American opinion about Prohibition. A survey by CNN in 2014 showed that 18 % of Americans still believed that alcohol should not be legal. The prohibition party still exists in the United States.Facts About The Repeal Of ’20s ProhibitionThe failure of the nationwide prohibition can be contributed to factors like the increase of alcohol consumption after the initial decrease, ramping up of organized crime, corruption among federal agents, abuse of prescriptions by doctors, borders that were tough to control, low numbers of official and enforcement agents and biased law enforcement which targeted the poor, urban immigrants and the black community more than the white and wealthy.The unfavorable effects of the policy made it a political failure. The prohibition did not reduce alcohol consumption and instead led to an increase in criminal activity, violence, and black markets. The prohibition was repealed in 1933 through the 21st amendment.In the USA, there are two ways of ratifying amendments to the Constitution. One way was to send the amendment to the State Legislatures and another was to send it to state ratifying conventions. The second method had never been used before the passing of the 21st amendment and it has never been used again.South Carolina and North Carolina had not approved the 21st Amendment. The states of Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and South Dakota did not call a convention.In March 1933, after becoming President, Franklin D, Roosevelt passed the Cullen-Harrison Act. This Act authorized the sale of 3.2 % alcohol content beer and wine. This act allowed for the first time since the beginning of prohibition on January 16, 1920, the sale of beer lawfully.The Prohibition ended on December 5th, 1933 with the passing of the 21st Amendment of the U.S Constitution which repealed Prohibition. This was the first time in American history that an amendment had been passed to repeal another.After the 21st Amendment, alcohol in the United States can only be sold after meeting the requirements for the liquor licenses.After the removal of the ban, President Franklin d. Roosevelt, with a martini in his hand, is quoted saying, ‘What America needs now is a drink’.Even after the removal of prohibition laws, some states choose to continue the ban on alcoholic beverages. Like Kansas which remained a dry state till the year 1948.Facts About The Significance of ’20s ProhibitionThe force of Prohibition in local and state politics was massive from the ’40s to the ’30s. The Anti-Saloon League was lobbying hard for a prohibition act. The Temperance Movement was raging, with massive popularity towards the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition Party.Anti-German sentiments along with efforts towards World War 1 were a high priority in the minds of Americans. These are some of the reasons why it was impossible to ignore the demands of the people and prohibition had to be enforced in the ’20s.Women who were influential leaders in the prohibition also supported suffrage, or the right to vote for women. This led to them working hand in hand with the prohibitionist, who started supporting suffrage too. It was believed by the prohibitionist that once women had the right to vote they will vote in favor of the prohibitionist movement. Thus, the Prohibition era could be considered a great social experiment that failed.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for ’20s Prohibition facts for kids to understand easily, then why not take a look at ’20s sports facts or 1926 fun facts.
The ’20s Prohibition was a period of time from 1920 - 1933 during which the production, manufacturing, and selling of alcohol were banned in the United States of America.
