Historical Significance

Some reformers waged a campaign for the prohibition of alcohol. In 1918, about three-quarters of the country lived in "dry" counties or states. A year later, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which banned the brewing and selling of beverages containing more than one-half percent alcohol. By June 1919, states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of liquor within the United States. During Prohibition, nationally there were fewer arrests for drunkenness and the death rate due to alcoholism declined, but those who wanted to consume alcohol managed to with the help of bootlegging rings, speakeasies, and home brew. Enforcing the legislation became more difficult as organized crime flourished with the illegal sale of alcohol. The experiment to legislate moral reform ended with the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933.