The 18th amendment forbade the manufacture, sale, or ___ of alcohol in the united states.

One hundred years ago, a constitutional amendment banned the sale of alcohol nationwide—but a lawless underworld of mobsters, speakeasies, and bribery flourished

The 18th Amendment is the only amendment ever to be repealed.

Prohibition is most closely associated with the 1920s, but its seeds were planted a century earlier, when the national temperance movement began decrying alcohol as the root cause of societal evils, including laziness and poverty. Around the same time, there was a religious revitalization in America, and many Protestant Christians argued that eliminating alcohol would make Americans happier, healthier, and more prosperous.

Despite not being allowed to vote, women were among the biggest proponents of Prohibition, seeing it as a way to combat domestic violence. The long fight on behalf of Prohibition gave many women the vital experience in politics that would help them succeed in their quest for voting rights.

“Women had no legal rights, and the amount of drinking in the middle of the 19th century was enormous, and family life suffered badly because of it—men coming home drunk, drinking away their money, losing their jobs,” says Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. “And the two movements—the suffrage movement and the temperance movement—were led by the same people.”

In fact, before Susan B. Anthony became one of the major leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, she gave her first public speech, in 1848, in support of stricter liquor laws.

Anti-immigrant sentiment also played a role in the Prohibition movement. Some of the largest breweries in the U.S. were run by immigrants. And many of the men who frequented saloons were working-class immigrants, who had their own customs and attitudes surrounding alcohol that didn’t fit in with small-town America’s values. Many people pushed Prohibition as a way to clean up the slums and “lift up” urban immigrants.

By 1913, thanks to lobbying groups like the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, half of all Americans lived under state or local Prohibition laws. But a nationwide ban on booze seemed unlikely, because until then as much as 40 percent of the federal government’s funding had come from taxing alcohol. That changed with the ratification of the 16th Amendment later that year, authorizing the federal government to collect income taxes.

On January 16, 1919—about a year and a half before women gained the right to vote—the proponents of Prohibition, known as “Drys,” achieved their ultimate goal: the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” anywhere within the U.S., was ratified.

“Nobody believed it would happen,” says Wondrich. “Prohibition was a small-town, rural movement, and people in the cities resented it. They really thought until the very end that there was going to be a way out of it, and then, suddenly, it became clear there wasn’t.”

Prohibition is most closely associated with the 1920s, but it began to take root long before that. Its seeds were planted a century earlier. During that time, the national temperance movement began decrying alcohol as the root cause of societal evils, including laziness and poverty. Around the same time, there was a religious revitalization in America. Many Protestant Christians argued that eliminating alcohol would make Americans happier, healthier, and more prosperous.

Despite not being allowed to vote, women were among the biggest supporters of Prohibition. They saw it as a way to combat domestic violence. The long fight on behalf of Prohibition gave many women vital experience in politics. That eventually helped them succeed in their quest for voting rights.

“Women had no legal rights, and the amount of drinking in the middle of the 19th century was enormous, and family life suffered badly because of it—men coming home drunk, drinking away their money, losing their jobs,” says Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. “And the two movements—the suffrage movement and the temperance movement—were led by the same people.”

In fact, Susan B. Anthony is an example of this. She became one of the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement. Before that, she gave her first public speech, in 1848, in support of stricter liquor laws.

Anti-immigrant sentiment also played a role in the Prohibition movement. Some of the largest breweries in the U.S. were run by immigrants. And many of the men who frequented saloons were working-class immigrants. They had their own customs and attitudes surrounding alcohol that didn’t fit in with small-town America’s values. Many people pushed Prohibition as a way to clean up the slums and “lift up” urban immigrants.

By 1913, lobbying groups like the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union had made strides. Around that time, half of all Americans lived under state or local Prohibition laws. But a nationwide ban on booze seemed unlikely. That’s because until then as much as 40 percent of the federal government’s funding had come from taxing alcohol. That changed with the ratification of the 16th Amendment later that year. It authorized the federal government to collect income taxes.

On January 16, 1919, the proponents of Prohibition, known as “Drys,” achieved their ultimate goal. The 18th Amendment was ratified. It prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” anywhere within the U.S. This was about a year and a half before women gained the right to vote.

“Nobody believed it would happen,” says Wondrich. “Prohibition was a small-town, rural movement, and people in the cities resented it. They really thought until the very end that there was going to be a way out of it, and then, suddenly, it became clear there wasn’t.”

‘During Prohibition, there were no rules.’

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‘The Great Lesson’ of Prohibition

The Great Depression turned the tide against Prohibition.

What did the 18th Amendment prohibit the sale of?

Did the 18th Amendment ban the sale of alcohol?

How does the 18th Amendment prohibit the Constitution of alcohol?

What is the 18 Amendment in simple terms?