-
Religious Revivalism
A wave of religious revivalism swept the United States, leading to increased calls for temperance, as well as other “perfectionist” movements such as the abolitionist movement to end slavery. -
Period: to
Religious Revivalism & The Start of Prohibition
Religious revivalism swept the United States, leading to increased calls for temperance. Maine passed the first state prohibition. -
The Start of Prohibition
In 1838, the state of Massachusetts passed a temperance law banning the sale of spirits in less than 15-gallon quantities; though the law was repealed two years later, it set a precedent for such legislation. Maine passed the first state prohibition laws in 1846, followed by a stricter law in 1851. A number of other states had followed suit by the time the Civil War began in 1861. -
A New Attack
In 1906, a new wave of attacks began on the sale of liquor, led by the Anti-Saloon League (established in 1893) and driven by a reaction to urban growth, as well as the rise of evangelical Protestantism and its view of saloon culture as corrupt and ungodly. -
Volstead Act
In 1917, to conserve grain during World War I, President Wilson initiated a temporary prohibition. That same year, Congress proposed the 18th Amendment, which would ban the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol. It was quickly ratified and became law in January 1919, going into effect a year later. The Volstead Act, passed in October 1919, then provided the federal guidelines for enforcing Prohibition. -
Beginning
In 1920 when the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. -
Problematic
Volstead Act. Despite the new legislation, Prohibition was difficult to enforce. The increase of the illegal production and sale of liquor (known as “bootlegging”), the proliferation of speakeasies (illegal drinking spots) and the accompanying rise in gang violence and organized crime led to waning support for Prohibition by the end of the 1920s. -
Period: to
Prohibition Era
Liquor Ban: 1920 -
Did you know?
In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated the incumbent President Herbert Hoover, who once called Prohibition "the great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far reaching in purpose." Some say FDR celebrated the repeal of Prohibition by enjoying a dirty martini, his preferred drink. -
The End
In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. The 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, ending Prohibition.