Repealing this... is where the country started going down hill
The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, the result of years of advocacy by the
temperance movement. The subsequent enactment of the
Volstead Act established federal enforcement of the nationwide prohibition on alcohol. As many Americans continued to drink despite the amendment, Prohibition gave rise to a profitable
black market for alcohol, fueling the rise of
organized crime. Throughout the 1920s, Americans increasingly came to see Prohibition as unenforceable, and a movement to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment grew until the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified in 1933.
Section 1 of the Twenty-first Amendment expressly repeals the Eighteenth Amendment. Section 2 bans the importation of alcohol into states and territories that have laws prohibiting the importation or consumption of alcohol. Several states continued to be "
dry states" in the years after the repealing of the Eighteenth Amendment. Nonetheless, several states continue to
closely regulate the distribution of alcohol. Many states delegate their power to ban the importation of alcohol to
counties and municipalities, and there are
numerous dry communities throughout the United States. Section 2 has occasionally arisen as an issue in
Supreme Court cases that touch on the
Commerce Clause.
en.wikipedia.org
Women Led the Temperance Charge
Temperance began in the early 1800s as a movement to limit drinking in the United States. The movement combined a concern for general social ills with religious sentiment and practical health considerations in a way that was appealing to many middle-class reformers. Women in particular were drawn to temperance in large numbers. Temperance reformers blamed “demon rum” for corrupting American culture and leading to violence, immorality and death.
The earliest temperance reformers were concerned with the overindulgence of American drinkers and encouraged moderation. By 1830, the average American older than 15 consumed at least seven gallons of alcohol a year. Alcohol abuse was rampant, and temperance advocates argued that it led to poverty and domestic violence. Some of these advocates were in fact former alcoholics themselves. In 1840, six alcoholics in Baltimore, Maryland, founded the Washingtonian Movement, one of the earliest precursors to Alcoholics Anonymous, which taught sobriety, or “teetotalism,” to its members. Teetotalism, so named for the idea of capital “T” total abstinence, emerged in this period and would become the dominant perspective of temperance advocates for the next century.
Women were active in the movement from the beginning. By 1831, there were 24 women’s organizations dedicated to temperance. It was an appealing cause because it sought to end a phenomenon that directly affected many women’s quality of life. Temperance was painted as a religious and moral duty that paired well with other feminine responsibilities. If total abstinence was achieved, the family, its home, its health and even its salvation would be secure. Women crusaders, particularly middle-class Protestants, pointed toward the Christian virtues of prudence, temperance and chastity, and encouraged people to practice these virtues by abstaining from alcohol.
The Civil War put an immediate, if temporary, end to early temperance efforts. States needed the tax revenue earned through alcohol sales, and many temperance reformers focused on bigger issues such as abolition or the health of soldiers. As the United States returned to life as usual in the 1870s, the next wave of temperance advocates set to work – this time with an aim at changing laws along with hearts. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was one such group.
prohibition.themobmuseum.org
Volstead Act, U.S. law
enacted in 1919 (and taking effect in 1920) to provide enforcement for the
Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. It is named for
Minnesota Rep.
Andrew Volstead, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who had championed the bill and
prohibition.
The act was vetoed by Pres.
Woodrow Wilson, but it became law after
Congress voted to override the veto. In addition, individual states passed further enabling and enforcing legislation. All the states enacted laws to help carry the Volstead Act into effect, although Nevada’s was later held unconstitutional. Such state laws were repealed in five cases (New York in 1923;
Wisconsin, Montana, and Nevada in 1929; and
Illinois in 1931).
Volstead Act, U.S. law enacted in 1919 (and taking effect in 1920) to provide enforcement for the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. It is named for Minnesota Rep. Andrew Volstead, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who had championed the bill.
www.britannica.com
Andrew John Volstead was an American member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, 1903–1923, and a member of the Republican Party. His name is closely associated with the National Prohibition Act of 1919, usually called the Volstead Act.
Wikipedia
Woodrow Wilson
President of the United States from 1913 to 1921
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of Princeton University and as the governor of New Jersey before winning the 1912 presidential election. As president, Wilson changed the nation's economic policies and led the United States into World War I in 1917.
Wikipedia
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