The Eighteenth Amendment and National Prohibition, Part 1: Introduction

Legal Sidebari

The Eighteenth Amendment and National
Prohibition, Part 1: Introduction
June 26, 2023
This Legal Sidebar post is the first in a seven-part series that discusses the Eighteenth Amendment to the
Constitution. Prior to its repeal, the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, or
transportation of “intoxicating liquors” for “beverage purposes” within the United States. Section 2 of the
Amendment granted Congress and the state legislatures “concurrent power” to enforce nationwide
Prohibition by enacting “appropriate legislation.” The Eighteenth Amendment was partly a response to the
Supreme Court’s pre-Prohibition Era Commerce Clause jurisprudence, which limited the federal and state
governments’ power over the liquor traffic. As such, the Eighteenth Amendment’s history provides insight
into the judicial evolution of the Commerce Clause, which operates as both a positive grant of legislative
power to Congress and a limit on state authority to regulate commerce. Additional information on this
topic will be published in the Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation of the U.S.
Constitution.
Historical Background
Prior to its repeal, the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
“intoxicating liquors” for “beverage purposes” within the United States. To enforce Prohibition, Congress
enacted the National Prohibition Act or “Volstead Act.” The Eighteenth Amendment and Volstead Act
were controversial in part because they empowered the federal government to police activities that
implicated individual social habits and morality—a role traditionally led by state and local governments.
Difficult to enforce and widely disobeyed, Prohibition lasted almost 14 years before the Twenty-First
Amendment repealed it.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of nationwide temperance movements that first emerged in
the decades after the Founding and steadily grew in influence during the Progressive Era. From the
Colonial Era to the early 1800s, many Americans viewed moderate alcohol consumption as a normal
aspect of life. Early Americans, including many of the Founders, drank, purchased, or manufactured large
quantities of alcoholic beverages. However, as Americans’ consumption of hard liquor increased
significantly from the 1790s to the 1830s, Protestant Christians, concerned about alcoholism’s effects on
society, formed some of the first temperance groups.
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In the decades leading up to the Civil War, temperance groups adopted an increasingly stringent attitude
toward alcohol consumption and successfully pressured some states to enact laws prohibiting the liquor
trade. However, as the nation became embroiled in disagreements over the issue of slavery, Americans’
interest in the temperance movement waned, and many state legislatures repealed or weakened their
prohibition laws.
After the Civil War, the temperance movement again surged in popularity as the nation grappled with
rapid industrialization and urbanization. The organization most responsible for the Eighteenth
Amendment’s proposal and ratification was the Anti-Saloon League. Founded in 1893, the League
engaged strategically with Protestant churches and both of the major political parties, publishing political
pamphlets and giving speeches in support of Prohibition. One of the League’s most prominent leaders,
Wayne B. Wheeler, directed the organization’s lobbying and fundraising efforts, which targeted
politicians at all levels of government throughout the United States.
By 1917, the widespread proliferation of state prohibition laws and Congress’s enactment of wartime
restrictions on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages had laid the foundation for nationwide
Prohibition. With the Anti-Saloon League’s political influence at its peak, a wave of “dry” candidates
swept into Congress in 1916. On December 18, 1917, Congress proposed the Eighteenth Amendment.
Although Congress imposed a seven-year deadline on the Amendment’s ratification, the requisite three-
fourths of the states approved it in little more than a year. On January 29, 1919, Acting Secretary of State
Frank L. Polk certified that the Amendment had been ratified on January 16. By its terms, the
Amendment did not become effective until January 17, 1920, which was one year after the states ratified
it.
The Eighteenth Amendment and nationwide Prohibition quickly fell out of favor with the American
public because of ineffective enforcement, harsh enforcement techniques, crime related to the illegal
liquor traffic, a need for tax revenue during the Great Depression, and widespread defiance of the law.
The Twenty-First Amendment repealed Prohibition but recognized that the states could regulate or
prohibit alcoholic beverages within their jurisdictions for legitimate, nonprotectionist purposes, such as
health or safety. In addition, the federal government continued to regulate or tax activities involving
alcoholic beverages, including aspects of beverage production, wholesale distribution, importation,
labeling, and advertising.
Click here to continue to Part 2.

Author Information

Brandon J. Murrill

Legislative Attorney




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.

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