today we're looking at the 18th amendment and prohibition
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you'll find more resources that go with many of the bellringer videos the 18th amendment
officially went into effect on january 16 1920 making the manufacturing sale and delivery of
alcohol or liquor illegal in the united states the amendment was in response to the organized
temperance movement which for several years had fought against the consumption of alcohol
and blamed alcohol on many of the social problems in the u.s during the 1800s and early 1900s
the root of this temperance movement went back over a hundred years to the early 1800s and was
led primarily by religious groups and women who were homemakers that saw alcohol as being the root
of evils in society organized groups such as the american society for the promotion of temperance
and the anti-saloon league fought vigorously at the state and federal levels to get laws passed
limiting the sale of alcohol by the mid-1910s over half of all the states in the united states
had some form of prohibition laws as world war one raged on the idea of prohibition took on
a patriotic aspect as many breweries producing beer had german roots and germany was the enemy
of the allied forces the 18th amendment to the constitution was officially ratified or
approved by congress on january 16 1919 but would not go into effect for another year
on october 28 1919 congress overrode a presidential veto by then-president woodrow wilson
of the volstead act named after judiciary chairman andrew volstead of minnesota the volstead act
basically laid out the procedures and guidelines for the actual outline of alcohol production and
sale the law quickly split america between wets and drys wets being americans that were against
the prohibition of alcohol and dries being those in favor of outlawing liquor throughout the early
to mid 1920s federal and local law enforcement began to seize warehouses full of liquor they
were busting barrels kegs and bottles of beer and destroying backyard distilleries but despite these
theatric scenes of the law being carried out it was clear the enforcement of prohibition would be
an almost impossible task for one law enforcement agencies were not given adequate funding
and agents tasked with enforcing the law were not given proper training there were simply not enough
policemen or federal agents to truly make sure the law was followed adding to the problem was
the fact that many in law enforcement were corrupt and willing to take bribes to turn the other way
when alcohol was discovered furthermore a large percentage of americans refused to follow the law
and continued drinking prohibition was meant to stop americans from consuming alcohol but instead
it had the opposite effect as soon as prohibition went into effect in 1920 there was a sharp
downturn in alcohol consumption but by the end of the 1920s alcohol consumption reached
record levels as improved economic conditions gave many americans more money to spend and the roaring
20s reached record heights in order to fill this demand for illegal liquor organized crime grew
rapidly bootlegging or producing alcohol illegally became a very profitable business as especially in
larger cities such as chicago and new york speakeasies or clubs to drink illegally in
became extremely popular organized crime bosses such as al capone in chicago became enormously
wealthy estimates are that capone was making as much as 100 million dollars a year and paying
out as much as five hundred thousand dollars a month to law enforcement agencies to allow his
illegal liquor empire to grow organized crime led to higher crime rates across the united states
after prohibition went into effect homicide rates rose by almost 80 percent in more rural areas such
as tennessee and kentucky moonshiners began to produce alcohol in their own home stills and
interestingly gave birth to early auto racing as illegal bootleggers drove fast cars to outrun law
enforcement authorities as the great depression began to set in after the stock market crash of
1929 prohibition became less and less accepted by 1932 franklin roosevelt ran for president
with one of his primary issues being the repeal or canceling of the 18th amendment
passed by congress in february of 1933 and then ratified by the states in december of the same
year the 21st amendment to the constitution repealed the 18th amendment it was the first
time in u.s history that a constitutional amendment had been repealed on december 5th
1933 only an hour after the amendment was officially repealed president roosevelt
issued a public proclamation declaring the end of prohibition for 13 years from 1920 to 1933
prohibition in the united states had attempted to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol
the policy was a clear and utter failure that resulted in more people drinking and an overall
rise in crime in america so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching
you