Prohibition in the United States

2007-09-21T16:00:28Z

ArnoldS: /* Effects of Prohibition and Repeal */

: ''This article discusses the particulars of prohibition in the [[United States of America]]. For an overview of prohibition throughout the civilized world, see [[Prohibition]].''

'''Prohibition''' in [[United States of America|American]] parlance typically refers to the movement and body of law that prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export of intoxicating [[liquor]] within, into, or from the [[United States of America]] from 1920 to 1933.

== History ==
=== Growth of alcohol consumption ===
Alcoholic beverages have been part of almost every culture since the beginning of recorded [[history]]. But alcohol consumption in colonial America was initially slow to grow. (Beer was a common exception to this, as the colonists and even the early citizens of the Republic preferred beer over the often polluted water.) The colonials and early citizens tended not to forbid alcohol itself but the act of ''intoxicating'' oneself with alcohol.<ref name=Colony>[http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00492/Alcohol_in_America.htm Alcohol in America] at "Prohibition: The Noble Experiment," April 20, 2005 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

The following [[Bible]] verse summarizes the dichotomy of American feelings toward alcohol in America's early years:{{Bible quote|And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;...|book=Ephesians|chap=5|verses=18|version=KJV}}

The records of the [[National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism]] show that alcohol consumption was at a relatively low level in 1850, the earliest year for which they have records, and enjoyed steady growth until the five years immediately before 1920. In fact, alcohol consumption, primarily of distilled spirits ([[whiskey]], [[gin]], and the like), rose steadily throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, as whiskey became more plentiful and less expensive. Indeed, whiskey was [[legal tender]] for debts, even public ones like [[tax]]es.<ref name=DUI>[http://www.dui.com/drunk_driving_research/research/colonial_america.html Alcohol Consumption in America, 1800-55] in the research archive of dui.com (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

Beginning after the end of the [[Civil War]], however, consumption of [[beer]] became more popular, until in 1890 beer displaced distilled spirits as the beverage of choice. With the tremendous growth in beer demand and the establishment of large-scale breweries, a new kind of retail establishment called the [[saloon]] appeared. At their height, saloons were so numerous that many places had one saloon (or more) for every 200 lawful residents.<ref name=OSU>Kerr, Austin (1996), and Shelton, Mitchell (2006), [http://prohibition.osu.edu//default.cfm Temperance and Prohibition], Department of History, [[Ohio]] State University, Columbus, Ohio.</ref> The saloon existed primarily to sell liquor. But the typical saloon became famous for other activities, such as [[gambling]] and [[prostitution]]. Worse yet, they often sold liquor to [[minor]]s.<ref name=MSNPro>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564677_1/Prohibition.html Prohibition] at MSN Encarta</ref>

=== Temperance movements ===
The spectacle of increased liquor consumption, and the unsavory activities associated with its sale, were impetus enough for many concerned citizens. But the bad effects on the men who consumed the highest amounts of liquor were worse. In those times, men were the primary consumers of liquor; women were either not permitted to partake or, more commonly, had little desire to partake. Instead, women observed the bad effects of liquor on their husbands. [[Carrie Nation]]<ref name=Carrie>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574293/Carrie_Nation.html Carrie Nation] at MSN Encarta</ref> became the most famous agitator for a total prohibition against liquor after her first husband died of alcohol-related illnesses. After agitating for various State prohibition laws, she ultimately took the law into her own hands by barging into illegal saloons and using a [[hatchet]] to wreck furniture and beer and whiskey barrels. She was arrested some 30 times, and used the honoraria she earned from lecturing to pay her bail.<ref name=Carrie/>

Even before Carrie Nation began her campaign, politicians everywhere spoke against the consumption of liquor. By 1855, 13 of the 31 states had prohibited liquor entirely; the first prohibition law was passed in [[Maine]] in 1840<ref name=Temperance>[http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Temperance_movement/ Temperance movement] at the Knowledge Rush Encyclopedia</ref>. [[Abraham Lincoln]] famously called liquor "an [[Egypt]]ian [[angel]] of [[death]]."<ref name=MSNPro/>

In 1873, matters came to a head with the great "Women's War" or "Women's Crusade."<ref name=OSU/> The two most famous organizations formed to have liquor tightly regulated, or prohibited entirely, were the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] and the [[Anti-Saloon League]]. The latter organization began in [[Ohio]] in 1893 but swiftly gained national importance. These organizations had one issue: the outright prohibition on the sale of intoxicating liquor. First content with the passage of new State laws, they eventually set a goal to amend the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] to prohibit intoxicating liquor nationwide. Another key force was the United States Prohibition Party, founded in 1869.<ref name=USPP>[http://www.prohibitionists.org/index.html Partisan Historical Society] (official site)</ref><ref name=USPPKR>[http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/United_States_Prohibition_Party/ United States Prohibition Party] at the Knowledge Rush Encyclopedia</ref>

=== World War I ===
The federal election of 1916 saw the election of enough [[House of Representatives|Representatives]] and [[United States Senate|Senators]] to propose a constitutional amendment banning the manufacture, sale, transport, import, and export of alcoholic beverages. But the [[First World War]] added another impetus to what became known as the "dry movement." Grain was scarce, and Americans considered the distillation of grains to make alcohol an unpatriotic waste of a resource that, they felt, the country needed to make bread for its soldiers overseas.<ref name=DH>Mintz, S. (2003), "Prohibition," in ''Digital History,'' retrieved April 7, 2007 from [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 DigitalHistory.UH.edu]</ref> Indeed, the NIAAA records show a sharp decline in liquor consumption in the five-year period bracketing that war.<ref name=OSU/>

=== Amending the Constitution ===
Passage of the [[Eighteenth Amendment]] in [[Congress]] was swift. In January 20, 1919, the amendment achieved ratification. Pursuant to the amendment's terms, the amendment took effect on January 16, 1920. In October 28, 1920, Congress, acting on its "power to enforce" the amendment, passed the [[National Prohibition Act]] or '''Volstead Act'''<ref name=TIH1028>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct28.html Today in History: October 28] at the [[Library of Congress]]</ref>, named for US [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[Andrew J. Volstead]] ([[Republican Party|R]]-[[Minnesota|MN]]),<ref>"[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=45207 Andrew J. Volstead political biography at Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 9/21/2007].</ref> which defined an [[alcoholic beverage]] as anything containing more than 0.5% [[ethanol]] by volume and providing for strict enforcement.

=== Enforcement ===
Enforcement was largely in the hands of the [[Internal Revenue Service]], which is why agents of the still-extant [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms]] are still called "revenuers" today. Arguably the most famous "revenuers" of all time were [[Eliot Ness]], who operated in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and the team of [[Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith]] in [[New York City]].<ref name=DH/> These were the most dedicated of the 2500 "Prohibition agents" who enforced the law at the height of federal enforcement efforts. Sadly, these men operated on a shoestring national budget ($5 million US at first, later increased to $300 million) and were vastly outmatched in numbers and resources. Worse yet, many politicians still partook of intoxicating liquor themselves, leading to a widespread perception of people in authority as hypocritical.

The latter part of the thirteen years of prohibition saw the rise of [[organized crime|organized criminal gangs]] in virtually every city in the country, and the manufacture of liquor on a small scale at millions of locations.<ref name=WeWantBeer>Miller, Carl H. (2000), [http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/prohibition_1.shtml We Want Beer], retrieved April 7, 2007 from BeerHistory.com</ref> This was the era of "[[speakeasy|speakeasies]]" (liquor-selling establishments that admitted people by invitation only and on the speaking of a [[password]]),<ref name=Hanson>Hanson, David J., [http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FunFacts/Prohibition.html Prohibition: the Noble Experiment], SUNY-Potsdam, Potsdam, NY (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref> "[[bootlegger]]s" (those who smuggled [[alcoholic drinks]] either for their own consumption or for sale), and of a general contempt for the law. [[Al Capone]], the most famous "gangster" in US history, built a vast and sprawling empire on the profits from the distribution of illicit liquor. (Ultimately the IRS obtained evidence of tax evasion against him, and upon conviction on that charge he was sent to [[Alcatraz]] Prison in [[San Francisco]] Bay.)

The original Volstead Act provided a medical exception to prohibition, in that a person could have a doctor prescribe alcohol to him.<ref name=RxEx>[http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanmateo/history/smpro26.htm A 1926 Alcohol Prescription Slip] in the History Archive of San Mateo County</ref> Many willing doctors wrote prescriptions, often on highly dubious premises.<ref name=About>Rosenberg, Jennifer, [http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm Prohibition], About.com (Retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

The government continued to expect cooperation with the authorities to the end, and issued two scathing reports calling for tougher enforcement in 1927<ref name=rep27>[http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/wick/wick1a.html History of Prohibition Enforcement before the Bureau of Prohibition Act of 1927] at the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy</ref> and 1931.<ref name=rep31>[http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/wick/wick1.html Report on the Enforcement of Prohibition Laws in the United States, January 7, 1931] at the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy</ref>

=== Repeal ===
The [[Crash of 1929]] and the ensuing [[Great Depression]] carried with it the spectacle of widespread [[unemployment]]. The "wet" forces, never dormant nor idle, quickly created a public perception that if only the beverage industry were legitimate once again, many of these suddenly unemployed workers could be gainfully employed once again.<ref name=About/> The [[Association Against the Prohibition Amendment]] would quickly capitalize on this perception and run candidates for [[Congress]] that favored repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment.

Congress did pass the [[Twenty-first Amendment]] and, in an unprecedented move, bypassed the State legislatures and called for the special election of ratification conventions in the several States. Thirty-eight of these conventions--two more than needed--passed repeal in December of 1933.

=== Remaining Prohibitions ===
Repeal did not begin immediately. States retained the right, under the new amendment, to regulate or even prohibit liquor as they saw fit. Although no States prohibit liquor today, different States have different regulations governing its manufacture, sale, and transport. (For example, some States allow the private sales of liquor, while others insist that all liquor be sold in "State Stores" operated by State alcoholic beverage control boards.) Liquor is still prohibited in some counties, even if not State-wide. And practically no State allows minors to purchase, attempt to purchase, consume, or transport intoxicating liquor.

[[Islam]] prohibits the imbibing of alcohol in all its founding documents. This has recently led to the spectacle of Muslim [[taxi]] drivers refusing to pick up fares in the United States who are transporting alcoholic beverages.<ref name=Cabbie>Lyderson, Kari, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501727.html Some Muslim Cabbies Refuse Fares Carrying Alcohol], ''The Washington Post'', Thursday, October 26, 2006; Page A02 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

== Effects of Prohibition and Repeal ==
A large body of misinformation persists about the effects of prohibition and of its eventual repeal. To begin with, the ''per capita'' consumption of intoxicating liquors declined significantly during this period.<ref name=OSU/><ref name=MSNPro/> In addition, two economists estimated that the prevalence of [[cirrhosis]] of the [[liver]] declined by ten to twenty percent during the Prohibition era.<ref name=cirrhosis>Dills, Angela K., and Miron, Jeffrey A., [http://aler.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/285 Alcohol Prohibition and Cirrhosis], ''American Law and Economics Review'', 6(2):285-318, 2004 (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

Crime did rise, and this consisted chiefly of direct flouting of the law and the spectacle of members of rival gangs killing one another in all-out wars for "territories" in the major cities, especially in Chicago. But perceptions of a massive crime wave are grossly exaggerated.<ref name=MSNPro/> Sadly, what is not exaggerated are the reports of widespread contempt for the law and for all authority, and the establishment of powerful [[organized crime]] syndicates in the United States.

One often overlooked effect, not so much of prohibition ''per se'' as of the movement that established it, is [[women's suffrage]]. Women did not seriously agitate for the vote until they had a rallying issue. That issue was prohibition, and the concern of these women was that the men would simply vote to continue to enjoy their liquor, and women would continue to feel the secondary effects of desertion of the home, domestic physical abuse, and neglect of the husband's duty to provide. Ironically, women did not definitively win the vote (the [[Nineteenth Amendment]]) until ''after'' prohibition was already a part of the [[Constitution]].

The NIAAA data compiled by Kerr<ref name=OSU/> clearly show that alcohol consumption sank to a bottom in 1933 and has been rising ever since. Today the ''per capita'' consumption of liquor is higher than ever. So, too, are its bad effects, effects that any person, not merely any specially affected subgroup, may feel under the right circumstances.<ref name=DUI2>National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, [http://www.dui.com/drunk_driving_research/research/alcohol_prohibition.html A Short History of Alcohol Temperance and Prohibition], DUI.com (retrieved April 7, 2007)</ref>

The most unfortunate result of Prohibition was that it gave organized crime, which had been fairly minor to the point, a new market for illegal goods to explosively grow into. Repeal did not destroy the organized criminal gangs. Instead of selling alcohol, they moved on to other illicit activities. These gangs, of course, persist today.

== Prohibition in Popular Culture ==
At least one [[motion picture]] and one long-running [[television]] series had their basis in the career of [[Eliot Ness]]. Another television project drew its basis from the careers of [[Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith]], though this was clearly a comedy.

[[Al Capone]] has been the subject of many motion picture projects about his life and career. In some of these projects his character is the leading character; in others he is a force-of-nature who affects the lives of others.

CBS-TV had a comedy series in the early 1970's that centered on an illicit bar operator and his mobster cousin in 1920's Chicago. Many other [[television]] and [[motion picture]] projects were set in or shortly after the Prohibition era and sometimes featured bootleggers as minor or major characters. In other projects, some characters would challenge the judgmental attitude of other characters who had lived during the Prohibition era, typically by asking them whether they never took an illicit drink when the sale of liquor was illegal. (Such lines often perpetuated the common misconception that the ''consumption'' of intoxicating liquor by adults, as distinct from its ''manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export'', was unlawful.)

At least one comedy motion picture was made about prohibition's repeal. That project featured a gangster who tried to "go legit" after prohibition ended.

==The Prohibition Party Today==
The Prohibition Party has continued to sponsor candidates for office. The party divided in 2003 over dissatisfaction with party leader Earl F. Dodge Jr. The smaller faction held its national convention in Dodge's living room and nominated him for a sixth time. This faction appeared on the ballot only in [[Colorado]] and received 140 votes. The larger faction of the party, called the Webb faction, nominated Gene C. Amondson for President. Amondson ran as the Prohibition nominee in [[Louisiana]], where he won 1,566 votes, and in Colorado under the "Concerns of People" Party, receiving 378 votes.<ref>"[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=37927 Gene Amondson political biography at Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 9/20/2007].</ref> Amondson received the most votes for a Prohibition Party nominee since 1988 and was the first Prohibition Presidential nominee to outpoll all other third party candidates in any county since 1960.<ref>Authors unnamed, "[http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-09-prohibition-feud_x.htm Battle brewing for teetotaler vote in Colorado]," ''USA Today'', Gannett Co., Inc., September 9, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

== See Also ==
* [[Prohibition]]
* [[War On Drugs]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.prohibitionists.org The Prohibition Party]

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Prohibition]]

Crater

2007-09-11T17:22:25Z

ArnoldS: New page: A crater is a depression left in solid matter due to the high-velocity impact of a smaller object with it. Category:Astronomy

A crater is a depression left in solid matter due to the high-velocity impact of a smaller object with it.

[[Category:Astronomy]]

Trade

2007-09-11T17:20:32Z

ArnoldS: New page: In its simplest form, trade is the exchange of goods and services between peoples. Category:Economics

In its simplest form, trade is the exchange of goods and services between peoples.

[[Category:Economics]]

Sahara

2007-09-11T14:15:26Z

ArnoldS: New page: The Sahara is the largest desert on Earth. It dominates the northern half of the African continent. Category:Deserts

The Sahara is the largest [[desert]] on [[Earth]]. It dominates the northern half of the African continent.

[[Category:Deserts]]

Money laundering

2007-09-11T14:03:36Z

ArnoldS: New page: Money laundering is the act of funneling money from an illegal venture through legitmate businesses in order to obscure the original source of the money. Category:Deceit

Money laundering is the act of funneling money from an illegal venture through legitmate businesses in order to obscure the original source of the money.

[[Category:Deceit]]

Isolationism

2007-09-11T13:59:55Z

ArnoldS: New page: Isolationism, in its most extreme form, is a foreign policy calling for zero contact with foreign governments. When used by most people however, the term refers to contact with for...

Isolationism, in its most extreme form, is a foreign policy calling for zero contact with foreign governments. When used by most people however, the term refers to contact with foreign powers being keep to a bare minimum.

[[Category:Foreign Policies]]

Benjamin Netanyahu

2007-09-11T13:53:44Z

ArnoldS: His brother Yonatan

[[Image:Netanyahu.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Benjamin Netanyahu''' is a [[conservative]] Israeli politician, former Israeli prime minister and current leader of the [[Likud]] party, who negotiated a partial withdrawal by Israeli settlers from Hebron, which is on the West Bank, in 1997.

His brother, Yonatan, was killed in 1976. Yonatan was the field commander of the raid on Entebbe, an operation to free hostages of an Air France flight highjacked by Islamists. He was the only Israeli commando casualty of the operation.

==Books by Natanyahu==
*''Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic And International Terrorism'' (Diane Pub Co, 1995). ISBN 0-7881-5514-8

*''A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations'' (Warner Books, 1993 and 2000). ISBN 0-446-52306-2

==External Links==
*[http://www.netanyahu.org.il/ Benjamin Netanyahu's blog]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netanyahu, Benjamin}}
[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:political people]]

HMS Bounty

2007-09-11T12:30:59Z

ArnoldS: New page: HMS Bounty refers to a ship of the 19th century British Navy made famous for the mutiny that occured on board. The mission of the Bounty was to acquire breadfruit trees from the is...

HMS Bounty refers to a ship of the 19th century British Navy made famous for the mutiny that occured on board. The mission of the Bounty was to acquire breadfruit trees from the island of Tahiti. This was done. However, the Bounty's extended stay in Tahiti led to a desire on the part of First Mate Fletcher Christian and many of the crewmen to remain in Tahiti. This desire led to the mutiny. Knowing that they could not escape the whole of the British navy, the mutineers eventually settled on [[Pitcairn Island]]. Their descendants live on the island to this day.

Neologism

2007-09-11T12:15:54Z

ArnoldS: Small expansion with a little cleanup.

A '''neologism''' is a newly-formed word or term. Neologisms are frequently coined to describe new articles or processes in expanding areas such as information technology; the word ''internet'' is itself a neologism, being the combination of the words interconnected and network.

[[category:linguistics]]

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