Prohibition takes effect in USA January 16,1919

 

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” is ratified on this day in 1919 and becomes the law of the land.

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 total national abstinence.

In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, also known as the Prohibition Amendment, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
On January 16, 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment was certified by the US Congress.  This amendment had been ratified by 46 of 48 states and said:
Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

 

Prohibition starts with a smash - liquor barrels and boxes are destroyed in accordance with the Prohibition Act

Prohibition was instituted with ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on January 16, 1919, which prohibited the "...manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States..." Congress passed the "Volstead Act" on October 28, 1919, to enforce the law, but most large cities were uninterested in enforcing the legislation, leaving an understaffed federal service to go after bootleggers. [1] Three separate Federal Agencies were to enforce the Volstead Act: a) the United States Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, b) the US Treasury Department IRS Bureau of Prohibition and c) the US Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition [2]
 

Nine months later, Congress passed the Volstead Act, or National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.

The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of prohibition, including the creation of a special unit of the Treasury Department.

Despite a vigorous effort by law-enforcement agencies, the Volstead Act failed to prevent the large-scale distribution of alcoholic beverages, and organized crime flourished in America.

 In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and ratified, repealing prohibition.