The End of Prohibition
On October 28, 1919, the Volstead Act came into effect. The long title of the Act was "An Act to prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes, and to ensure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye, and other lawful industries" and it brought about prohibition into the United States.
The bill was passed above the objections of President Woodrow Wilson, who used his veto to try to prevent prohibition from being enacted. But on October 27, 1919, Wilson's veto was overridden in the House of Representatives, the same day as the veto, and it was overridden in the Senate on October 28th.
The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors", but it did not define what "intoxicating liquors" were, and it did not provide penalties for offenders. The Volstead Act gave both the federal government and the states the power to enforce the ban. Wilson's veto was based largely on technical grounds. Wilson was opposed to the bill because it also included prohibition during wartime.
As we now know, prohibition didn't work out as planned. The production, importation, and distribution of alcoholic beverages, once performed by legitimate businesses, were taken over by criminal gangs, which fought each other for market control in violent turf wars. Many gangsters became rich and were admired for flouting an unpopular law. Enforcement was difficult because the gangs became so rich they were often able to bribe underpaid and understaffed law-enforcement personnel and pay for expensive lawyers. They also were able to garner the support of many politicians by financing their campaigns. Many in higher socio-economic groups were inclined to flout the law. In large cities that served as major points of liquor importation (such as Chicago and Detroit) gangs wielded significant political power.
Prohibition came into force at midnight on January 17, 1920. In anticipation of its passage, some gang leaders were stashing liquor months before the Volstead Act was enforced. Enforcement of the Volstead Act was problem. There were only 134 agents designated by the Prohibition Unit to cover all of Illinois, Iowa, and parts of Wisconsin. According to Charles C. Fitzmorris, Chicago's Chief of Police during the beginning of the Prohibition period, 60% of his police force were in the bootleg business.
Prohibition lost advocates as alcohol gained increasing social acceptance and as prohibition led to disrespect for the law and the growth of organized crime. A black market for liquor was soon created, providing lucrative business opportunities for gangsters like Al Capone. Thousands of “bootleggers” across the country flouted the law and their products were no longer monitored for quality. Further lack of support for the law was apparent from the proliferation of “speakeasies.” These were establishments that offered secret places for people to drink, out of the sight of official law enforcement, and largely unregulated for other illegal activities.
Presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt had a talent for reading the mood of the electorate, and he applied that talent to this issue. He made the repeal of prohibition part of his campaign platform in his first campaign for President. In August 1932, in Seagirt, New Jersey, Roosevelt declared that alcohol abuse was “bound up with crime, with insanity and, only too often, with poverty. It is increasingly apparent that the intemperate use of intoxicants has no place in this new mechanized civilization of ours. In our industry, in our recreation, on our highways, a drunken man is more than an objectionable companion, he is a peril to the rest of us." He added that prohibition "has been accompanied in most parts of the country by complete and tragic failure. A general encouragement of lawlessness has resulted; corruption, hypocrisy, crime and disorder have emerged; and instead of restricting, we have extended the spread of intemperance. This failure has come for this very good reason: we have depended too largely upon the power of governmental action instead of recognizing that the authority of the home and that of the churches in these matters is the fundamental force on which we must build."
Following his election, Roosevelt wasted no time in attacking Prohibition. In the first month of his Presidency he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933. This law amended the Volstead Act of 1919 by raising the permitted percentage of alcohol to 3.2 percent. It also taxed it. According to an anecdote, after Roosevelt signed the act he said to his aide, Louis Howe, "I think this would be a good time for a beer.”
The anti-Prohibition movement was a strong one and it resulted in the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed the 18th Amendment. In his proclamation declaring the repeal, Roosevelt urged Americans to drink responsibly. He cautioned them "not bring upon themselves the curse of excessive use of intoxicating liquors, to the detriment of health, morals and social integrity.”
The move was not only based in social engineering, but in economics as well. The federal government collected more than $258 million in alcohol taxes in the first year after repeal. This accounted for over 8% of the government’s tax revenue. The Twenty-first Amendment was proposed by the 72nd Congress on February 20, 1933, weeks before President-elect Roosevelt took the oath of office. On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, rendered the Volstead Act unconstitutional, and restored control of alcohol to the states.
The bill was passed above the objections of President Woodrow Wilson, who used his veto to try to prevent prohibition from being enacted. But on October 27, 1919, Wilson's veto was overridden in the House of Representatives, the same day as the veto, and it was overridden in the Senate on October 28th.
The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors", but it did not define what "intoxicating liquors" were, and it did not provide penalties for offenders. The Volstead Act gave both the federal government and the states the power to enforce the ban. Wilson's veto was based largely on technical grounds. Wilson was opposed to the bill because it also included prohibition during wartime.
As we now know, prohibition didn't work out as planned. The production, importation, and distribution of alcoholic beverages, once performed by legitimate businesses, were taken over by criminal gangs, which fought each other for market control in violent turf wars. Many gangsters became rich and were admired for flouting an unpopular law. Enforcement was difficult because the gangs became so rich they were often able to bribe underpaid and understaffed law-enforcement personnel and pay for expensive lawyers. They also were able to garner the support of many politicians by financing their campaigns. Many in higher socio-economic groups were inclined to flout the law. In large cities that served as major points of liquor importation (such as Chicago and Detroit) gangs wielded significant political power.
Prohibition came into force at midnight on January 17, 1920. In anticipation of its passage, some gang leaders were stashing liquor months before the Volstead Act was enforced. Enforcement of the Volstead Act was problem. There were only 134 agents designated by the Prohibition Unit to cover all of Illinois, Iowa, and parts of Wisconsin. According to Charles C. Fitzmorris, Chicago's Chief of Police during the beginning of the Prohibition period, 60% of his police force were in the bootleg business.
Prohibition lost advocates as alcohol gained increasing social acceptance and as prohibition led to disrespect for the law and the growth of organized crime. A black market for liquor was soon created, providing lucrative business opportunities for gangsters like Al Capone. Thousands of “bootleggers” across the country flouted the law and their products were no longer monitored for quality. Further lack of support for the law was apparent from the proliferation of “speakeasies.” These were establishments that offered secret places for people to drink, out of the sight of official law enforcement, and largely unregulated for other illegal activities.
Presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt had a talent for reading the mood of the electorate, and he applied that talent to this issue. He made the repeal of prohibition part of his campaign platform in his first campaign for President. In August 1932, in Seagirt, New Jersey, Roosevelt declared that alcohol abuse was “bound up with crime, with insanity and, only too often, with poverty. It is increasingly apparent that the intemperate use of intoxicants has no place in this new mechanized civilization of ours. In our industry, in our recreation, on our highways, a drunken man is more than an objectionable companion, he is a peril to the rest of us." He added that prohibition "has been accompanied in most parts of the country by complete and tragic failure. A general encouragement of lawlessness has resulted; corruption, hypocrisy, crime and disorder have emerged; and instead of restricting, we have extended the spread of intemperance. This failure has come for this very good reason: we have depended too largely upon the power of governmental action instead of recognizing that the authority of the home and that of the churches in these matters is the fundamental force on which we must build."
Following his election, Roosevelt wasted no time in attacking Prohibition. In the first month of his Presidency he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933. This law amended the Volstead Act of 1919 by raising the permitted percentage of alcohol to 3.2 percent. It also taxed it. According to an anecdote, after Roosevelt signed the act he said to his aide, Louis Howe, "I think this would be a good time for a beer.”
The anti-Prohibition movement was a strong one and it resulted in the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed the 18th Amendment. In his proclamation declaring the repeal, Roosevelt urged Americans to drink responsibly. He cautioned them "not bring upon themselves the curse of excessive use of intoxicating liquors, to the detriment of health, morals and social integrity.”
The move was not only based in social engineering, but in economics as well. The federal government collected more than $258 million in alcohol taxes in the first year after repeal. This accounted for over 8% of the government’s tax revenue. The Twenty-first Amendment was proposed by the 72nd Congress on February 20, 1933, weeks before President-elect Roosevelt took the oath of office. On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, rendered the Volstead Act unconstitutional, and restored control of alcohol to the states.