Prohibition in the United States

The Prohibition Era was a period in United States history when alcohol was outlawed. Police would arrest anyone who was found making or selling alcohol illegally. Prohibition was established by the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was ratified (approved by the states) by January 16, 1919. It came into effect on January 16, 1920. It lasted from 1920 to 1933.

Sheriff's deputies dumping illegal alcohol in Orange County, California, in 1932.

The Women's Christian Temperance Union and other reformist organizations agitated for this change in order to improve the lives of the people. Prohibition was set up by the American government in an effort to decrease crime rates, reduce tax burden, and improve health in Americans. It had little to do with the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The punishment for being caught with an alcoholic beverage was jail time. The millions of people becoming criminals in such a short period of time led to overflowing prisons. It was common to have a case dismissed.

Prohibition led to reduced consumption of alcohol, but the Mafia and other underground organizations took up rum-running because of it. Due to the demand of alcohol, illegal pubs were built called speakeasies. Speakeasies were used to hide the illegal alcohol. These could be in the form of a proper pub or simply in their owner's basement.

Prohibition was repealed December 5, 1933 by the Twenty-first Amendment. Now states can regulate the selling of liquor by themselves.