A Brief History
On October 28, 1919, The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January and setting the stage for the eventual production of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.
Digging Deeper
Without the almost difficult to fathom actions of Congress nearly a hundred years ago today, we would not be enjoying the tales of gangsters and corrupt politicians gracing our televisions on Sunday nights thanks to HBO. Yet, for as hard as it is for us in an age in which we are inundated constantly by beer and other alcoholic beverage commercials, for a time the United States attempted to prohibit intoxicating beverages.
The long march to Prohibition began as far back as 1826 with the founding of the American Temperance Society. Women played a major role in nineteenth-century temperance societies and indeed a veritable alliance developed between women’s suffrage organizations and temperance societies. The reason for women in particular to speak out against excessive drinking of intoxicating beverages stems from a combination of physical abuse suffered at the hands of drunk husbands as well as drunk husbands engaging in adulterous relationships or risking their employment by missing work, showing up late, or even working while intoxicated.
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler (November 10, 1869 – September 5, 1927) of the Anti-Saloon League conceived of and drafted the bill later known as the Volstead Act. Congressman Andrew John Volstead (October 31, 1860 – January 20, 1947) chaired the House Judiciary Committee and managed the legislation in Congress. Technically called The National Prohibition Act, the act was intended to carry out the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was ratified in January 1919 and took effect about a year later. The Amendment read: “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. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 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.”
With these rather vague terms that did not define what exactly constitutes intoxicating liquors, America became a dry country, much to the bafflement of the rest of the world. Making matters worse, Prohibition resulted in organized crime bosses operating speakeasies and distribution networks throughout the United States. Americans clearly were not willing to give up centuries-old customs of drinking alcohol. Those who supported the bill may have had good intentions, but instead their efforts wound up resulting in the growth of some of America’s most powerful organized crime families.
In 1933, Prohibition ended when the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth, but the enduring cultural legacy of the Roaring Twenties, of gangsters and speakeasies remains with us to this day!
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you want Prohibition to come back? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
To learn more about this time period, you may want to follow the series on HBO and read-up on the historical background as covered in a nice companion book:
Johnson, Nelson. Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City. Plexus Publishing, 2010.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="530 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=530">154 Comments
No, I do not watch Boardwalk Empire… But it sounds interesting!
I have never even heard of Boardwalk Empire but it does sound neat!
I have never seen Boardwalk Empire but I think it sounds interesting as well!
I have not heard of Boardwalk Empire but through taking this history class I realize I would probably really enjoy it. As a nursing major, unfortunately there just isn’t time to fully explore all the resources I would love to explore.
I have never even heard of Boardwalk Empire but it sounds pretty interesting
-had not heard of Board Empire K. Fraelich
I’m with the rest of the class on this one. Never heard of this series but it sounds interesting!
I have heard of the show, but I do not watch it. I do not have HBO on my Tv.
I have heard of the show, but I do not watch it. It sounds interesting, but I do not have HBO.
I have heard of this series before but i do not have time to watch TV while I am at school.
I have never heard of Boardwalk Empire and unfortunately I do not get HBO.
If I had HBO I would watch Boardwalk Empire, I’ve heard its amazing
The college, and my house has very basic cable, and I am not much of a television watcher, but I have heard that it is really good!
I have never watched this show. Honestly I have never heard of this show until now. I do not have a lot of time to watch TV. If I get to watch TV, it is with my 7 year old and it is never anything I want to watch.
I have never watched this show before. This is the first time I have ever heard of it.
I wish I had HBO, but this is the first time I’ve heard about Boardwalk Empire.
I have never watched this show and I do not have HBO but would be interested in watching it if it was on Hulu or Netflix.
I haven’t had cable in a few years, so I’ve never heard of the show. Sounds interesting though.
I wish I had HBO too. Some of the shows they have I would get sucked into. I think there claim to fame (HBO) was when they make the mini-series “Jefferson.”
This is the first time I have heard of the series and I would watch, but I don’t have HBO.
I have never heard of the series before, and I do not have HBO.
I also do not have HBO nor have seen the series.
I have never seen Boardwalk Empire. I would possibly watch it, but I rarely watch TV.
If people want something enough, they’ll get it somehow, even if it’s illegal. I think trying to ban alcohol just caused more problems for the U.S than it solved.
I feel like the crime and gangs could have been avoided by just allowing alcohol. I think the eighteenth amendment hurt the country more than it helped.
I agree with Danielle that it doesn’t stop individuals from doing something even if it is illegal. Banning alcohol only just hurt the country more.
Interesting article, although, besides the reasoning connected to Women’s Suffrage, I don’t believe prohibiting the public from consuming alcoholic beverages was a justified decision.
I agree with Danielle and Meghan. The Eighteenth amendment created more problems for the country than when alcohol was legal.
The removal of alcohol was suppose to solve problems instead it cause more.
I found it incredibly sad that the women felt they had to try to get this amendment passed so their husband’s would stop abusing them while they were drunk. I guess they didn’t have social services back then to help these people.
I think banning alcohol did no one any good, it just caused much more problems in society back then.
Although alcohol is not good for society necessarily, i think that this was not a good choice because of the problems prohibition brought.
In an open-minded and freedom society, banned alcohol isn’t the right decision because people have the right to interact with its society to create sociable environment in limited regulations to protect citizens.
It would have been interesting had domestic abuse been more thoroughly and truthfully recorded, to compare the abuse before and during prohibition. Obviously, it is understandable that women would want alcohol banned since they assumed it would lessen the frequency of abuse, but I don’t believe it was the correct decision, and I don’t believe it had much effect on abuse.
I think banning alcohol was just a poor choice. It made people lose jobs and there was also lots of black market sales of alcohol.
Obviously, the choice to ban alcohol was a bad one, but I think they had good reasons for their actions. If it would decrease domestic abuse, then it would have been an improvement. However, all it did was increase crime, which certainly made it a negative choice.
The prohibition provided a time that many Americans will never forget. Alcohol may not have been the best product for the country but it was a better country with it. Trying to ban alcohol caused more problems then not banning it.
I couldn’t imagine living in a time when alcohol was illegal. Banding alcohol just caused more problems then necessary.
Although the decision to ban alcohol was made with good intentions, it caused more problems that before. It’s hard to imagine a time with prohibition.
The women behind Prohibition had good intentions, however, the crime rate increased along with unemployment. It the end it was not a good path for them to solve their problems.
The idea of prohibition was cool and all, but it seemed to increase the crime rate. It’s like a lot of stuff today. If they ban guns, the crime rate will probably increase.
The decision of banning alcohol ended up being a bust. More bad cam out of it than good. Its an interesting topic though!
I think people thought prohibition would’ve been a good thing for the country, but it ended up being worse. Crime rates went up because people kept drinking alcohol even when it was against the law.
I love reading about the prohibition era. It still amazes me that this period in history actually happened.
I think the decision to ban alcohol was made with good intentions. They didn’t know that it would have caused an increase in crimes.
I can’t fathom the idea that banning alcohol nationwide a good thing. Good intentions aren’t always so good.
I think that prohibition was an awful idea. it just created a higher demand for alcohol. it reminds me of the modern war on drugs
That was doomed from the start. We as a nation even back then love our alcohol so we resorted to speak eases to get our alcoholic fixes
This shows that prohibition just wasn’t a great idea.
i believe that the banning of alcohol was trying to fix problems but it just caused more crimes rates.
i can see how people could have thought that prohibition could have been a good thing but I can definitely see why it wasn’t and why the crime rates increased as well as many other things.
It’s funny that this was even a law. Now a days everyone drinks, whether they are of age or under age. I see them trying to make the country a good and safe environment but people want what they want.
I think if we tried this today it would still have the same outcome crime would go up and people would find a way to get alcohol
I do not think some people could live without their alcohol. It is crazy to think this was actually a law.
I know that universities have a very hard time enforcing a dry campus so I can see how it would have been impossible to have a completely dry nation.
Prohibition was not a good idea, it seemed to have caused more problems than it solved.
From what I learned in high school, and in college, prohibition seemed to be a big mistake. It led to a lot of corruption which did not happen as much when alcohol was legal.
i can’t even imagine how people would act today if they try to influence prohibition again.
Prohibition would never work today considering people couldn’t go without it back then
Prohibition was not a good idea to begin with. It may have been presented with good intentions but many people would agree that the enforcement did more harm than good. -ACL
Prohibition is an example of how we could never make tobacco illegal.
We can’t forget that people died from drinking some of the alcohol that people sold during prohibition because there were no standards on making it.
Wow, I never knew that Prohibition started as far back as 1826 due to women wanting their husbands to stop abusing them from lacking their rights as humans.
It’s amazing the large impact women had back in this era even when they technically had no rights
Crime raised and the government lost money from the prohibition but the president had good intentions
Prohibiting alcohol was a overall disaster for America. Although it had good intention.
Although that intentions of prohibiting alcohol in the U.S. were good, it caused negative reactions in the long run.
Prohibition was a very bad idea.
Banning alcohol was a lesson learned by the U.S. I feel that banning simple things in life, especially if they have been legal at some point, just cause more illegal action; which is what seemed to have happened during the prohibition.
It is hard to image a law being passed to ban alcohol. It does not surprise me that people wanted it to be banned, but I can not believe it actually happened.
I wonder what would happen if a law was passed like this in todays age.
I think it’s interesting that by banning alcohol, it only led to more organized crime in the United States.
Banning alcohol was not the best decision because it let to many people being mad. It is hard to think people actually wanted it gone. I couldn’t imagine how people would react today if they removed it.
Banning alcohol would obviously create more crimes because it then becomes a crime to make alcohol.
The effects of banning alcohol certainly have outnumbered and outlasted the act itself.
This idea was not well conceived. The women of the American Temperance Society decided banning alcohol would keep their men in check. Foolish thinking.
It is hard for me to decide whether it is a good idea to make substances like alcohol illegal or not. People will do it anyway, but it would be nice if everyone would actually follow laws.
Although it was perhaps well intentioned, the subsequent crimes of prohibition were perhaps worse than the alcohol itself. Whose to say how history would have been different without prohibition??
I think if prohibition would have never occurred it would have saved a lot of blood shed. Making things illegal will not stop the people from doing it.
The Bill may have had good intentions, but also caused many problems. To prohibit something that has been part of American culture for so long seems ridiculous. It is good that today we have restrictions to some extent on driving to provide safety, but to do away with alcohol all together seems impossible and would upset many people.
Prohibition had was going in the way of a good idea, however, it would have never worked. People cannot be told not to drink. It would have saved a lot of fighting, crime, and shady encounters.
I believe that during this time, many people believed that prohibition was a good idea and would be beneficial to everyone. Unfortunately this was not the case and led to a lot of crime.
I think that prohibition was a bit extreme. I understand the concerns of the people, but I am always so shocked that the bill actually was passed. I wonder what would have happened if the government came up with alternatives or restrictions on alcohol percentages per fluid ounces.
This prohibition in my opinion in a little too excessive. At the time, the government may have thought it was the right thing to do but whenever an out of hand restriction is placed, people are going to be very angry and use their first amendment.
Overall, I do not agree with the law of prohibition but do believe that alcohol needs to be monitored by American households. Women had every right to form these temperance societies being that it caused a decline in their overall income as well as husband’s productivity.
I do think they meant well when it came to prohibition but it was not one of the best decisions made in that time. I think had it been worded differently and without such stringent restrictions it may have fared better but instead backfired. The gangster stories are exciting to read about but I can’t imagine living through all that violence. Women today continue to lead some of the great organizations against drinking like MADD (mother against drunk driving)
I feel that prohibition was a good idea, but not carried out correctly. The way I look at it is that people are still going to do it if it is illegal, it will just be even sneakier and harder to catch. I do agree though that some restrictions could be kept, maybe just not completely prohibited.
I think the idea of the prohibition was a right thinking even in today’s society. Although it is impossible to prohibit Alcohol comprehensively, controlling people to avoid excessive drinking can even save many lives. I agree with this prohibition.
I would never agree with prohibition. alcohol has been apart of our society why change it now. Drinking is a freedom, why control what people have been doing for centuries just because itis what you think is best.
Prohibition lead to the largest amount of organized crime that America has ever experienced. I think this is telling that we should not ban things, such as guns, because Americans are clearly not willing to give up what they have been used to having for centuries.
Interesting article. By banning alcohol it had caused crime to increase. In a way it can suggest that by banning something can cause people to want to do it more. Just because it is banned does not mean people will stop using or selling the product, it just means that they will try not to get caught. This can go with other substances and not just alcohol.
Although this analogy isn’t directly connected and in no way is meaning I think of law makers as children, but it reminds me of when you tell a young child “no.” The child does it anyway. You’ll always have those lawbreakers. No surprise that alcohol has led to crime.
I don’t think there will ever be a successful ban on alcohol. I understand why they tried, but I don’t think that would ever be successful.
Its interesting to see how bad prohibition backfired.
Just like Diana said, there will never be a successful ban on alcohol.
I don’t there will ever be a successful permanent ban on any substance. Just look at the spread of marijuana legalization.
It has always amazed me that it was thought alcohol could be completely banned. It is like when you tell a little kid they can’t do something, they want to do it even more. I have always thought that is kind of what the prohibition did to the US.
Keeping items like alcohol, drugs, and prostitution illegal just makes more reasons for people to cause even more acts of illegal activities.
you’d think our “dry” campus would take this into consideration. im too sure banning things would ever really work, especially things as awesome as alcohol
I think the harder something is to get the harder something is to track because it has to be hidden around, I do believe that if things were just made legal it would be a lot easier to monitor and therefore we could keep a tighter hold on the access to it.
Probably one of the biggest failures in legislation. Ban something and you make people want it more.
Sadly, the women that protested did so in hopes of ending spousal abuse that resulted from their partners being intoxicated. Although alcohol can certainly be an accelerant in abusive situations, but these cases can be seen amongst sober people as well. The circumstances just pushed people to want what they could not have.
I wish that we still had prohibition today, this would cause a few problems but solve many.
great article.
It sounds unbelievable that there were that many men who would beat their wives due to the excessive use of alcohol. Sounds to me there were other problems within the family structure.
The Volstead Act would serve to create the underbelly of our society: the mob and gangsters. Whenever something like alcohol is made illegal, it just goes underground. Better to keep it legal and police it.
I think the terms should of been better worded so we didn’t see so many trying to take matters underground.
I understand why they wanted to stop the drinking and get rid of it. Guys got drunk and abused there women. That was wrong but don’t get rid of the alcohol just punish the men.
This is just another example of government over reach that today’s politicians have still not learned form. It has never been the job of the government to decide what s best for the individual. Some folks just can’t quite get that through their heads.
Its hard to believe living in a world where alcohol was illegal. What a crazy time to be alive and involved in. I always enjoyed movies and books about the era and Al Capone.
No alcohol? Must have been a stressful time. Knowing how many people were bootlegging it must have come to their senses about all the money they losing on taxes.
Definitely would have been an interesting time to be alive. Hard to imagine a time with no alcohol.
It is interesting to read of the prohibition, I feel that it was unnecessary. People just needed to take responsibility for the their own actions.
I think our government had good intentions when they listened to the people and eventually put the prohibition into effect. The only thing is it was exchanging one evil for another, the increase of organized crime. This same problem can be related to those wanting to legalize marijuana in our country today.
I think they had a good thought process behind the idea of prohibition. I personally would not want my husband getting drunk and beating me, cheating on me, and losing his job over alcohol. Prohibition did bring about other issues in the crime scene, but I feel in the long run, it opened mainstream America to the idea that alcohol cannot be a free for all. There must be guidelines put in place and regulations, especially in the workplace.
I love how women blamed alcohol for their husbands being abusive. I’m sorry, but prohibiting alcohol will not cure someone of abusive tendencies. The U.S. obviously realized that Prohibition would not stop people from drinking alcohol, it would just promote crime revolving around sneaking to get alcohol.
I did not realize that women were behind the Prohibition Act. If a man has bad tendencies, you can’t stop it but alcohol did, and still does, play a factor in violence. If I were to ever lay a hand on my wife, drunk or not, she would not just leave me but she would make sure I couldn’t hurt anyone again.
I would rather see people smoke marijuana than drink alcohol. I never respond to two high people fighting or beating their wife. I rarely respond to car crashes with somebody high vs. being drunk. Alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana.
Alcohol can be a dangerous thing but when an item becomes an illegal item, it makes people want it more. That is why the speakeasies started coming around. People still wanted the alcohol that was now banned.
I agree that alcoholic beverages make people do dumb things and sometimes evil things (Domestic Violence) but is not the alcohol but the person drinking it. Criminals are always going to take advantage of a situation when people still want a product that it illegal.
I understand alcohol puts you in a different state of thinking, but I don’t think it is an excuse for someone to be violence. Banning alcohol will not cure the problem.
The fact that alcohol impairs some peoples thought process but to make it illegal people would have still got a hold of it. The intentions of the government was I believe to be all in good faith but people would have only went under ground with the producing of it.
Taking responsibility for your own actions or pay a strict penalty for your actions would decrease the crimes due to alcohol. I think if there is a zero tolerance and laws are strictly enforced people would know their boundaries. I don’t think that alcohol should be made illegal or taken completely away it should be ones personal choice but as with everything choices have consequences.
I believe they felt they were doing the right thing at the time but ended up being a poor decision. I feel if there are strict laws and people aren’t let off as easily things like driving under the influence would decrease.
Looking at the prohibition from a very broad perspective, if making alcohol illegal created gangs and organized crime, does that make criminalizing other drugs a conduit for gangs and organized crime? I guess there are more factors to consider in this comparison, but something to think about.
Isn’t weird that by prohibiting what you believed to be the source of problems; actually created more illegal situations. This was a sure fire sign that bad will hide in any corner, its just a matter of whether or not you take it out of the corner and utilize it.
Boardwalk Empire was a good show. One thing I remember from it was even though alcohol and liquor was prohibited in the U.S. during the time period of the show, the characters in it always found a way to get it. Prohibition caused more problems than what it tried to eliminate.
I hope people have realized that when you take something away, like they did with alcohol, that it actually creates more problems for society. Look at what happened with the bootleggers and the violence that occurred when prohibition passed.
Laws do not stop people from getting their hands on illegal substance, it just raises the crime rate. I am grateful for prohibition because I love 20’s gangster movies, but I am sure it wasn’t as romantic in real life as it is on the TV screen. The irony is that part of the prohibition was meant to reduce violence, but it increased it.
I agree with Mr. Barker, just because something is illegal does not mean people will not get their hands on it. Just look at the drug and crime rate today.
While stationed in Utah, there were many discussions about Prohibition, etc. They still have 3.2 beer, however, beer of higher alcohol content is available for purchase on the installation.
The Prohibition never would have lasted long. There was to much opportunity for it to be taxed and money to be made. Crime rates also went up instead of down.
The prohibition caused criminal activity to rise, and the people who wanted to keep drinking had to get it illegally. No wonder the crime rates increased.
I understand why a lot of women supported the Prohibition and I also see how liquor companies were against women’s suffrage. However, did anyone really believe our nation would remain “dry”? I like my glass of wine as much as another, and I would definitely be at a speakeasy!
I do not think the idea of completely banning alcohol was completely thought out. In my opinion it was never going to be successful and only created more crime and chaos during this time.
Prohibition was a bad decision. It caused so much crime and, not to mention, alcoholism. Not being able to have it made people want it even more.
If it is going to have a prohibition on selling Alcohol, it can cause many different problems. I think it is more effective to set up a limitation for each person when they are going to buy alcohol. Being Drunk can cause a lot of social issues, such as: drunk driving, violence.
Sometimes, drinking alcohol can make friendship more closer, but drink too much until drunk could cause many issues, it is important we should have a self limitation on Alcohol.
I figure prohibiting liquor benefited nobody in any way, it just caused considerably more issues in the public eye in those days.
The crime that ensued after the 18th amendment could not have been foreseen.
That whole plan for prohibiting alcohol really backfired, didn’t it?
Alcohol only causes problems – not only in history – but today as well. There should definitely be more strict limits on alcohol and drinking.
The ban on alcohol only increased problems within society back then, which is why the plan failed… it is kinda funny
I had no idea that Congress passed the Volstead Act over Woodrow Wilson’s veto. I think it is ironic though that the ban on alcohol only caused more problems because illegal speakeasies were created and people continued to drink alcohol anyways. I definitely think Congress realized that their plan backfired!
It is interesting to consider the current issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana today with the impact that prohibition had with the Volstead Act in 1919. Each has its own set of challenges but accountability remains a dominant part of the decision-making process in legislation.
Can only imagine if something like this were to happen these days, the country would go to shit with angry protesters and riots. But i wonder what speakeasies would be like compared to back then….
I don’t understand why they ever thought that prohibition would actually work. I understand where the women were coming from, if they were abused or cheated on, but trying to completely get rid of alcohol is not logical. That’s why people had speakeasy’s, they found ways to sneak alcohol. This is similar to marijuana being illegal in some states, it won’t stop people from using it just because it is illegal.
While there are definitely good arguments for limiting alcohol, completely outlawing it is just absurd. It amazes me nobody would see the negative economic effects the would arise from it.
Just imagine prohibition now a days! i think it would definitely end the same way..
With all the advertisements for alcohol constantly showing up everywhere around us today, it is hard to believe that the sale of it was ever illegal.
I’m interested in how Congress ever got this vote to pass. Just imagine this in today’s society. It only leads in more crime due to smuggling and in this case, moonshiners.
I feel as though, if guns were to be prohibited it would end much like prohibition would. Its just such a big part of peoples lives in both cases.
I see more purpose behind prohibition after reading this article but can see why it did not work out. I don’t think many people took into account how much alcohol was affecting women’s lives.
I don’t understand how they believed they would be able to just ban all alcohol in the matter of a year.