Today is a very important day in the history of beer in the United States. 91 years ago, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was passed, ending prohibition and the nationwide ban on alcoholic beverages.
14 years earlier a bunch of Karen’s and Darren’s got together and decided that they knew what was best for the public and lobbied for a nationwide ban on alcohol. On January 16th of 1919, with major pressure from groups such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified. The belief was that prohibition would protect women, families, and children from the effects of alcohol abuse. Although the 18th amendment did not outlaw the actual consumption of alcohol, it did declare that the transportation, distribution and sale of intoxicating liquors to be illegal.
Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28th of 1919, and the Senate did the same the next day. The Volstead Act declared that liquor, beer and wine all fit under the category of intoxicating liquors, thus making them prohibited under the 18th amendment. The earliest that the Volstead Act could be enacted according to the eighteenth amendment was on January 17th of 1920. So on this date the 18th Amendment to the Constitution went into effect thus making alcohol illegal throughout the entire country.
During the time of prohibition, there were some statistics that pointed to the fact that prohibition was helping, but in the long run it was widely considered a failure. Some of the things that could have been seen as positives to the movement include a decrease in the amount of deaths in men from Cirrhosis of the Liver, which went from 29.5 in per 100,000 residents in 1911, down to 10.7 in 1929. Admissions to state hospitals for psychosis brought on by alcohol dropped from 10.1 per 100,000 people in 1919 to 4.7 in 1929. Arrests for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct fell 50 percent between 1916 and 1922. Last but not least the amount of people that consumed alcohol decreased by about 30 to 50 percent during the 14 years of prohibition.
The enactment of prohibition though ultimately led to a dramatic rise in the amount of crime in the country. It led to the rise of the mafia, bootlegging and various speakeasies across the entire country. This led to the emergence of notorious crime figures such as Al Capone, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Machine Gun Kelly, Bugs Moran and many more. The streets of the inner-cities were run red with blood over control of the illicit alcohol trade. The rise in organized crime led to a significant increase in corruption both on the local and national level. It also led to a bunch of other vices becoming more prevalent in society such as gambling and prostitution.
In urban areas, where the majority of the public was opposed to prohibition, enforcement of prohibition was much weaker than in rural towns and cities. Another somewhat surprising negative statistic that came from the years of prohibition was that child abuse and neglect by their parents increased significantly. The proponents of prohibition at the time thought that making alcohol illegal would strengthen families, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
As the decade of the roaring 20’s continued along, it became obvious that prohibition was hurting more than it was helping. Once the Great Depression hit in 1929, the negative effects of enforcing prohibition became apparently obvious to the nation as a whole. This led to a rise in groups such as the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) and the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). These groups showed that since its enactment prohibition had cost the country 11 billion dollars in lost tax-revenue and that the government had spent 310 million dollars in enforcing prohibition laws from the years spanning 1920 to 1931. Prohibition was costing the country a hell of a lot more than it was helping.
In 1932, the Democratic nominee for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began to call for the repeal of the 18th Amendment. The first step in eliminating prohibition was the signing of the Cullen-Harrsion Act on March 22nd of 1933. This act allowed for the sale of beer that was 3.2% ABV or less (which was thought of as being too low of an alcohol level to be considered an intoxicating beverage), and for the sale of wine. As the year of 1933 continued along, states slowly began to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, and on December 5th of the same year, prohibition was officially repealed. To this date, the only Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America to be repealed is the 18th Amendment.
The social experiment of prohibition for 14 years was considered a failure in the long run. Today we get to celebrate the fact that it failed and only lasted for 14 years, by raising our glasses in a toast to enjoy the freedom to drink alcohol as American citizens, and for that we will be forever grateful. Cheers!
#repealday #craftbeer #beer #brewery #BeerLovers #drinklocal #michiganbeer
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