The Prohibition Movement In The United States: Features And Consequences
“Snap your burning chains, ye denizens of the pit, and come up sheeted in the fire, dripping with the flames of hell, and with your trumpet tongues testify against the damnation of drink!”
By the late 1800s, people like John Bartholomew Gough, a reformed drinker and stage actor, and other Washingtonian evangelists like him used some rigid rhetoric to sway more than three hundred thousand men out of the depths of intoxication. The movement to stop the manufacture and sale of alcohol, called Prohibition, Temperance, and the “noble experiment”, began in the late 1700s with the Second Great Awakening, and eventually ended in the 1930s. It wasn’t an easy fight. Even our Founding Fathers were knee-deep in the consumption of alcohol; James Madison downed a pint of whiskey daily. Americans’ consumption only increased from there. By 1830, American adults, per capita, were drinking seven gallons of pure alcohol a year, which is equivalent to ninety bottles a year per every adult in the nation. Frederick Marryat, an English traveler, marveled, “I am sure the Americans can fix nothing without a drink, if you meet, you drink; if you part, you drink; if you make acquaintance, you drink; if you close a bargain you drink; they quarrel in their drink, and they make it up with a drink. If successful in elections, they drink and rejoice; if not, they drink and swear; they begin to drink early in the morning, they leave off late at night; they commence it early in life, and they continue it, until they soon drop into the grave”.
America obviously had a drinking problem. Not only was it an unhealthy habit, but Henry Ford believed alcohol had a negative impact on labor productivity. Others, specifically the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Ohio, believed there was a direct link between alcohol and some antisocial behaviors like child abuse and domestic violence. The WCTU was founded by women “concerned about the problems alcohol was causing their families and society. ”
The first sobriety legislation established itself in 1838 as a Massachusetts law banning the sale of spirits in less than 15-gallon quantities. In 1846, Maine passed the first state prohibition law, though it was repealed two years later. By the time the Civil War started, various states had followed suit. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union called for prohibition of the sale of alcohol as early as 1873. Eventually, the WCTU joined forces with the Anti-Saloon League. Impressively, the ASL managed to bring prohibition legislation to state level. Through magnificent speeches, public demonstrations and advertisements at bars, other prohibition advocates tried to convince others that getting rid of alcohol meant also getting rid of poverty and other social vices such as immoral behavior and domestic violence. One prominent advocate for temperance was Carrie Amelia Moore Nation. As a young woman, she married a heavy drinker who lost his life to alcohol and left Nation to raise their child alone (Britannica). The experience permanently scarred Nation, who hated alcohol the rest of her life. Eventually, Nation joined forces with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Nation was notorious for wearing black clothing, marching into a saloons, and smashing furniture and beer bottles in several bars while spouting bible verses and hollering hymns. Though she was arrested many times and often looked down on for her violent protests, Carrie Nation contributed greatly to the development of the 18th Amendment.
By 1916, twenty three of forty eight states passed anti-saloon legislations, as well as some manufacturing stipulations. During that year in Congress, “dry” members (those who were advocates for prohibition) won a two-thirds majority over “wet” members. Prohibition reached its zenith in 1920 when Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which forbid “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors”. In addition to the amendment, the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was passed. The Volstead Act was meant to provide the government with the means to enforce the 18th Amendment. This act was vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson, but it became a law anyway after Congress overrode the veto.
The Volstead Act was ultimately ineffective, however, because loopholes in the act made the amendment incredibly difficult to enforce. For example, medicinal, sacramental, and industrial alcohol were legal, as well as fruit or grape beverages prepared at home. Some states rebelled, despite ratification. For example, in the court case Hawke v. Smith, Ohio petitioned to invalidate the 18th Amendment. The issue brought to court was whether or not a state had the right to review ratification of amendments. On June 1, 1920, the Court’s decision was that Ohio could not overturn the state’s approval of the 18th Amendment.
The intentions of Prohibition activists were to better the nation and reduce criminal acts and corruption. However, the ratification of the 18th Amendment produced the complete opposite effect. Bootlegging, the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor, became extremely common. As the manufacturing of alcohol went further underground, the Mafia and other gangs began to control it. These gangs morphed into huge criminal enterprises that collected large profits from illegal liquor trade. The Mafia became extremely skilled at bribing police and politicians to allow their criminal enterprising. Al Capone, an infamous bootlegger, made $60 million annually from smuggling alcohol. Along with bootlegging and speakeasies, prostitution and gambling increased significantly Prohibition also attempted to improve hygiene and health throughout the nation. That backfired, too. Entrepreneurial bootleggers manufactured millions of gallons of “bathtub gin”. This particular production of liquor was so foul that those who were desperate enough to drink it faced the possibility of going blind or getting poisoned. Some of the most dangerous solutions contained industrial alcohol initially made for fuel and medical supplies. This alcohol contained quinine (an anti-parasite to treat malaria), methyl alcohol, and other toxic chemicals. Bathtub gin, along with other low-quality materials offered from sketchy bootleggers, killed more than 10, 000 people. The Great Depression also contributed to the demise of Prohibition. Many argued that forbidding alcohol denied needed jobs to the unemployed as well as funds to the government. The AAPA (Americans Against Prohibition Association) was established and in 1932 part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential campaign involved repealing the 18th Amendment.
In February 1933, Prohibition came to an end. Congress proposed the 21st Amendment, repealing the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment. Prohibition advocates gradually fizzled out at that point. The majority of Americans were glad to be rid of it. One historian’s comment on Prohibition was “Moonshine was dangerous, bootleggers got rich, and the government lost alcohol taxes. ”In the end, Prohibition only made things worse. It intensified every blemish in America’s society. Nothing was accomplished, and that’s why it was called the “noble experiment”, one that will never be tested again.
