On January 20, 1920, the 18th Constitutional Amendment officially went into force, ushering in what would become known as the Prohibition Era — a sweeping nationwide experiment in banning the sale, transportation, and consumption of alcohol. Practically overnight, hundreds of thousands of pubs scattered across every corner of the United States were forced to shut their taps. Beer and spirit manufacturers had to cease production immediately, and simply drinking an alcoholic beverage became an illegal act. But what drove 46 out of 48 states to conclude that alcohol was so harmful to American society that it needed to be outlawed by constitutional mandate?
For years, temperance societies and like-minded organizations had set their sights on eliminating alcohol from American culture entirely. Their argument was straightforward: husbands and fathers were squandering their wages at pubs after work, staggering home drunk with empty pockets and nothing left to offer their families. As the political temperance movement gained steam, it swept through state legislatures across the U.S., rallying support behind the simple promise that removing alcohol would put an end to crime. And while Prohibition did enjoy considerable public backing in its early days, that messaging turned out to be wildly off the mark — men like Al Capone were terrorizing Chicago at the very same time.
The whole experiment came to a close in 1933 when FDR pushed through another amendment that repealed the 18th. Looking back, the Prohibition Era is widely regarded as a massive social experiment that fell flat on its face. Rather than disappearing, pubs and saloons simply moved underground. Americans turned to bathtub gin, and criminal gangs seized control of the booming illegal alcohol trade.