Prohibition

Prohibition Prohibition and the 1920’s The 1920’s are often described as the decade of contrast and conflicts. It was a decade that some would say was the worst decade in American history. The 18th amendment to the constitution was passed by congress in 1917. It was ratified by three fourths of the states by 1919. This amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages within the boundaries of the United States of America. Prohibition was officially underway. The Volsted Act of 1919 defined an alcoholic beverage clearly as any beverage with an alcoholic content of greater than .5 %. This made it illegal to sell and manufacture all liquor and beer. (Shultz 1) Prohibition was a phenomenon during the 20’s. It was not however the first campaign against alcohol, but it was by far the most successful. There had been numerous anti-alcohol campaigns during the colonial period. None of which were as successful as the national prohibition laws in the 20’s. For example in 1851 the Maine Law prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state of Maine. By 1855 thirteen other states had adopted prohibition, alcohol, increased, liquor, crime, people, percent, during, over, made, laws, thorton, illegal, drink, business, bowen, bootlegging, saloons, organized, new, large, increase, government, big, after, temperance, problems, money, industry, being, beer, because, very, set, saloon