Prohibition

Prohibition was the era of the U.S. constitutional 18th amendment that barred the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors. It lasted from 1920 to 1933, when the 21st amendment repealed it.

Some people think that the reason the 18th amendment was ratified by all but two states is because the women had been given the right to vote. Women were in favor of outlawing booze because in the early days men often stopped off at saloons after working hard all day and sometimes spent a lot of their pay drinking and gambling. This probably had an effect but there was a general feeling by many people that outlawing booze would make the country better, especially those who attended church.

There are some misconceptions about prohibition. Many think that it was a wild time with people going to speakeasies and sneaking around with bootleg booze and bathtub gin. The media has glamorized this era of the roaring 20's. The problem with that idea is that most people of modest means could ill afford the cost of liquor back then. Since alcoholic beverages had been outlawed they had to be acquired illegally, which resulted in the cost skyrocketing by as much 500 times. Only the wealthy could afford to go to these speakeasy clubs. It did eventually change the way people drink. Instead of going to saloons, people began to drink in private. The era of the cocktail party was a result of this.

The fact is that the 18th amendment actually worked. Less alcohol was consumed, compared to the time before this law. In the early days of the U.S. drinking was much more prevalent than it is now. It's hard for us to realize this. Our forefathers made rum and whiskey on their plantations. It seems that everyone drank then. Prohibition had the effect of toning down alcohol consumption a peg or two.

However, prohibition did have some bad effects. For one, it increased the desire to drink alcohol, which resulted in bootleggers and moonshiners making really bad stuff that in some cases had methanol instead of ethanol resulting in blindness and death. It also increased the consumption of Coca-Cola to mask the taste of really bad booze. In fact, it created the new art of bartending to create mixed drinks.

Another bad effect was the fact that women began to drink more. Since they had been emancipated, they wanted to live it up just like men. Back then the bad effects of alcohol for pregnant and nursing women were unknown.

Another bad result of prohibition was the ascendency of organized crime. Organized crime was always present in the United States prior to this amendment, but it made crime more lucrative. One usually thinks about Al Capone and the Chicago gang wars. That was the romantic image of prohibition. The reality is that crime became a real problem because of the fact that people wanted to drink but had to do it undercover. Anytime something becomes illegal and hard to obtain, it becomes desirable. Think about the drug use problem.

As it turns out, prohibition was a bad idea and Congress finally realized it and passed the 21st Amendment to repeal it. Sometimes a good intention can go wrong and cause more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks for reading.