Prohibition occurred in the United States between the years of 1920 and 1933. Prohibition was a national ban on the manufacture, transport and sale of alcohol. The ban in the United State was backed up by a legal amendment to the U.S constitution, which was the 18th amendment made. The 18th amendment set out which intoxicating liquors were banned and how the ban was to be enforced. It was hoped that the banning of alcoholic substances would create a more peaceful, moral and productive society. The amendment was highly unpopular and was repealed in 1933. The repeal of prohibition is the only repeal of a constitutional amendment in the history of the United States.
Why was prohibition repealed?
There were a number of reasons why prohibition was repealed in 1933. One of the major reasons was the state of the United States economy. The US had suffered a major economic blow when the stock market crashed and they had also experienced the Great Depression. A new President, President Franklin Roosevelt was elected and he promised to improve the economy of the country. One way to achieve more revenue was to repeal the prohibition law. The repeal of the law created more jobs for the struggling public and created more tax revenue for the government. The repeal of the law also lessened the effect of the black market (illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol) on the American economy.
Another major reason for the repeal of the 18th amendment was the general public’s dissatisfaction with the law. The law was never taken seriously by the U.S public because many law abiding citizens had consumed alcohol without incident prior to prohibition. Many of these people thought that the law as unnecessary and decided to ignore it. As the years passed the population became even more dissatisfied with the law and restrictions and it became extremely unpopular especially in big cities. The government began to change the law in early 1933 and by the end of 1933 national prohibition was repealed.
Another reason cited for the repeal of prohibition was the inability to enforce the ban nationally. The projected effects of a prohibition were not achieved and, in fact, the opposite occurred with a rise in illegal activity and bootlegging. Much of the population chose to defy the law and gain access to liquor illegally. Organized crime rose and a black market sprung up for the sale of alcohol. This was not anticipated and state and federal law enforcement agencies were unable to enforce the law due to bribery and dissatisfaction with the law itself.