Prohibition Era
Prohibition in the 1920s Thirteen Years That Damaged America – Catherine H. Poholek
‘“The results of the experiment [prohibition] are clear: …organized crime grew into an empire; …disrespect for the law grew; and the per capita consumption of the prohibited substance — alcohol — increased dramatically” (McWilliams). It is obvious that this “noble experiment” was not so noble but rather a miserable failure on all accounts. Reasonable measures were not taken to enforce the laws and so they were practically ignored. People flagrantly violated the law, drinking more of the substance that was originally prohibited. The problems prohibition intended to solve, such as crime, grew worse and they never returned to their pre-prohibition levels. Not only was prohibition ineffective, it was also damaging to the people and society it was meant to help. Prohibition should not have gone on for the thirteen years it was allowed to damage society.’
In 1932, the Democratic Party’s platform included a plank for the repeal of Prohibition, and Democrat Franklin Roosevelt ran for President of the United States promising repeal of federal laws of Prohibition. By then, an estimated three fourths of American voters, and an estimated forty-six states, favored repeal.
In 1933, the state conventions ratified the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed Amendment XVIII and prohibited only the violations of laws that individual states had in regard to “intoxicating liquors”. Federal Prohibitionary laws were then repealed. The amendment was fully ratified on December 5, 1933.
