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N0KFQ > TODAY 05.12.15 23:36l 55 Lines 2554 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 76639_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 5
Path: IW8PGT<F1OYP<ON0AR<VK6HGR<ZL2BAU<GB7YEW<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 151205/1702Z 76639@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1933
Prohibition ends
The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified,
repealing the 18th Amendment and bringing an end to the era of
national prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST,
Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the
requisite three-fourths majority of states' approval.
Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier in the day.
The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early
19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects
of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the late 19th
century, these groups had become a powerful political force,
campaigning on the state level and calling for national liquor
abstinence. Several states outlawed the manufacture or sale of
alcohol within their own borders. In December 1917, the 18th
Amendment, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation
of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by
Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On January 29,
1919, the 18th Amendment achieved the necessary three-fourths
majority of state ratification. Prohibition essentially began in
June of that year, but the amendment did not officially take
effect until January 29, 1920.
In the meantime, Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28,
1919, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. The Volstead Act
provided for the enforcement of Prohibition, including the
creation of a special Prohibition unit of the Treasury
Department. In its first six months, the unit destroyed thousands
of illicit stills run by bootleggers. However, federal agents and
police did little more than slow the flow of booze, and organized
crime flourished in America. Large-scale bootleggers like Al
Capone of Chicago built criminal empires out of illegal
distribution efforts, and federal and state governments lost
billions in tax revenue. In most urban areas, the individual
consumption of alcohol was largely tolerated and drinkers
gathered at "speakeasies," the Prohibition-era term for saloons.
Prohibition, failing fully to enforce sobriety and costing
billions, rapidly lost popular support in the early 1930s. In
1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and
ratified, ending national Prohibition. After the repeal of the
18th Amendment, some states continued Prohibition by maintaining
statewide temperance laws. Mississippi, the last dry state in the
Union, ended Prohibition in 1966.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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