The Prohibition Era

It was January 16, 1920, and the streets of San Francisco were crowded with trucks and wagons delivering crates of liquor to people’s homes. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, bars were giving away milk bottles filled with alcohol to customers as souvenirs. And every café, restaurant, and hotel in New York City was jam-packed with people clinking glasses.

“There were so many corks popping, it sounded like artillery fire,” says historian David Wondrich.

The reason for the commotion: It was the last call for alcohol. At one minute past midnight, Prohibition would take effect, by a constitutional amendment, making it illegal to sell intoxicating liquors anywhere in the United States.

Dubbed the “noble experiment,” Prohibition was intended to solve the social ills of the day. Instead, it led to a whole new set of problems—fueling the rise of organized crime, corrupting public officials, and creating a nation of lawbreakers.

It was January 16, 1920. The streets of San Francisco were crowded with trucks and wagons delivering crates of liquor to people’s homes. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, bars were giving away milk bottles filled with alcohol to customers as souvenirs. And every café, restaurant, and hotel in New York City was jam-packed with people clinking glasses.

“There were so many corks popping, it sounded like artillery fire,” says historian David Wondrich.

What was behind all the commotion? It was the last call for alcohol. At one minute past midnight, Prohibition would take effect. This constitutional amendment made it illegal to sell intoxicating liquors anywhere in the United States.

Dubbed the “noble experiment,” Prohibition was intended to solve the social ills of the day. Instead, it led to a whole new set of problems. It fueled the rise of organized crime and corrupt public officials. It also created a nation of lawbreakers.

A century later, many people view Prohibition as a cautionary tale about the government trying to impose its own morals on people.   

“The problem with the Prohibition amendment,” says Samuel Freeman, a professor of philosophy and law at the University of Pennsylvania, “is that it concerned private morality—actions that are harmless to others that we might think are nonetheless wrong based on our personal moral views. And that really isn’t the proper role of the Constitution.”

A century later, many people view Prohibition as a cautionary tale about the government trying to force its own morals on people.

“The problem with the Prohibition amendment,” says Samuel Freeman, a professor of philosophy and law at the University of Pennsylvania, “is that it concerned private morality—actions that are harmless to others that we might think are nonetheless wrong based on our personal moral views. And that really isn’t the proper role of the Constitution.”

Prohibition is most closely associated with the 1920s, but its seeds were planted a century earlier, when the national temperance movement began decrying alcohol as the root cause of societal evils, including laziness and poverty. Around the same time, there was a religious revitalization in America, and many Protestant Christians argued that eliminating alcohol would make Americans happier, healthier, and more prosperous.

Despite not being allowed to vote, women were among the biggest proponents of Prohibition, seeing it as a way to combat domestic violence. The long fight on behalf of Prohibition gave many women the vital experience in politics that would help them succeed in their quest for voting rights.

“Women had no legal rights, and the amount of drinking in the middle of the 19th century was enormous, and family life suffered badly because of it—men coming home drunk, drinking away their money, losing their jobs,” says Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. “And the two movements—the suffrage movement and the temperance movement—were led by the same people.”

In fact, before Susan B. Anthony became one of the major leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, she gave her first public speech, in 1848, in support of stricter liquor laws.

Anti-immigrant sentiment also played a role in the Prohibition movement. Some of the largest breweries in the U.S. were run by immigrants. And many of the men who frequented saloons were working-class immigrants, who had their own customs and attitudes surrounding alcohol that didn’t fit in with small-town America’s values. Many people pushed Prohibition as a way to clean up the slums and “lift up” urban immigrants.

By 1913, thanks to lobbying groups like the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, half of all Americans lived under state or local Prohibition laws. But a nationwide ban on booze seemed unlikely, because until then as much as 40 percent of the federal government’s funding had come from taxing alcohol. That changed with the ratification of the 16th Amendment later that year, authorizing the federal government to collect income taxes.

On January 16, 1919—about a year and a half before women gained the right to vote—the proponents of Prohibition, known as “Drys,” achieved their ultimate goal: the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” anywhere within the U.S., was ratified.

“Nobody believed it would happen,” says Wondrich. “Prohibition was a small-town, rural movement, and people in the cities resented it. They really thought until the very end that there was going to be a way out of it, and then, suddenly, it became clear there wasn’t.”

Prohibition is most closely associated with the 1920s, but it began to take root long before that. Its seeds were planted a century earlier. During that time, the national temperance movement began decrying alcohol as the root cause of societal evils, including laziness and poverty. Around the same time, there was a religious revitalization in America. Many Protestant Christians argued that eliminating alcohol would make Americans happier, healthier, and more prosperous.

Despite not being allowed to vote, women were among the biggest supporters of Prohibition. They saw it as a way to combat domestic violence. The long fight on behalf of Prohibition gave many women vital experience in politics. That eventually helped them succeed in their quest for voting rights.

“Women had no legal rights, and the amount of drinking in the middle of the 19th century was enormous, and family life suffered badly because of it—men coming home drunk, drinking away their money, losing their jobs,” says Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. “And the two movements—the suffrage movement and the temperance movement—were led by the same people.”

In fact, Susan B. Anthony is an example of this. She became one of the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement. Before that, she gave her first public speech, in 1848, in support of stricter liquor laws.

Anti-immigrant sentiment also played a role in the Prohibition movement. Some of the largest breweries in the U.S. were run by immigrants. And many of the men who frequented saloons were working-class immigrants. They had their own customs and attitudes surrounding alcohol that didn’t fit in with small-town America’s values. Many people pushed Prohibition as a way to clean up the slums and “lift up” urban immigrants.

By 1913, lobbying groups like the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union had made strides. Around that time, half of all Americans lived under state or local Prohibition laws. But a nationwide ban on booze seemed unlikely. That’s because until then as much as 40 percent of the federal government’s funding had come from taxing alcohol. That changed with the ratification of the 16th Amendment later that year. It authorized the federal government to collect income taxes.

On January 16, 1919, the proponents of Prohibition, known as “Drys,” achieved their ultimate goal. The 18th Amendment was ratified. It prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” anywhere within the U.S. This was about a year and a half before women gained the right to vote.

“Nobody believed it would happen,” says Wondrich. “Prohibition was a small-town, rural movement, and people in the cities resented it. They really thought until the very end that there was going to be a way out of it, and then, suddenly, it became clear there wasn’t.”

Ratifying an Amendment outlawing alcohol was one thing—enforcing it was a whole other challenge. In October 1919, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act—more commonly known as the Volstead Act, for its champion, Representative Andrew Volstead of Minnesota—to provide for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment. The law would take effect at 12:01 a.m. on January 17, 1920.

There were several loopholes, however. For example, while the amendment specifically forbid purchasing or transporting alcohol, it said nothing about drinking alcohol you already had in your home. As businesses hustled to offload their soon-to-be illegal inventory, there was a mad dash for liquor.

Officials in many states were reluctant to spend money enforcing Prohibition. They believed that was the responsibility of the federal government. New Jersey’s governor, Edward Edwards, for one, vowed to keep his state “as wet as the Atlantic Ocean.”

Ratifying an Amendment outlawing alcohol was one thing. Enforcing it was a whole other challenge. Representative Andrew Volstead of Minnesota championed the National Prohibition Act. In October 1919, Congress passed it, providing a way for the 18th Amendment to be enforced. The law, which is more commonly known as the Volstead Act, was set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on January 17, 1920.

But there were several loopholes. For example, the amendment specifically forbade purchasing or transporting alcohol. But it said nothing about drinking alcohol you already had in your home. Businesses hustled to offload their soon-to-be illegal inventory. That created a mad dash for liquor.

Officials in many states hesitated to spend money enforcing Prohibition. They believed that was the responsibility of the federal government. New Jersey’s governor, Edward Edwards, for one, vowed to keep his state “as wet as the Atlantic Ocean.”

Taking advantage of the lax law enforcement, bootlegging operations popped up around the country almost immediately. People made fortunes smuggling liquor into the U.S. from Canada; rum runners trafficked boatloads of rum to the Florida coast from the Bahamas; and moonshiners operated their own secret distilleries in the U.S.

They frequently bribed federal prohibition agents, local police, judges, and even mayors to look the other way. And many members of Congress, themselves, who supported Prohibition in public, drank behind closed doors.

“During Prohibition, there were no rules,” Okrent says. “You had an illegal operation that was paying off local law enforcement authorities. They could sell liquor to anybody, any time of day, any age.”

Flower shops, parking garages, and basement apartments were converted into illicit bars that were called “speakeasies,” because patrons were supposed to speak quietly about them. In New York City alone, it was estimated that there were at least 32,000 speakeasies—one for every 243 residents. In these dimly lit clubs, a new form of American entertainment, jazz, was popularized—leading writers and journalists to dub the 1920s the “Jazz Age” and the “Roaring Twenties.”

However, millions of Americans did follow the law, and alcohol consumption greatly decreased during the ’20s—as did alcohol-related arrests, hospitalizations, and deaths. The drop in consumption was partly because one’s ability to drink came down to wealth. Beverages that once cost only 15 cents could now set you back a dollar (the equivalent of about $13 today).

The lax law enforcement gave way to bootlegging operations. These illegal businesses popped up around the country almost immediately. People made fortunes smuggling liquor into the U.S. from Canada. Rum runners trafficked boatloads of rum to the Florida coast from the Bahamas. And moonshiners operated their own secret distilleries in the U.S.

They frequently bribed federal Prohibition agents, local police, and judges. They also got mayors to look the other way. Even many members of Congress drank behind closed doors. And they did so despite supporting Prohibition in public.

“During Prohibition, there were no rules,” Okrent says. “You had an illegal operation that was paying off local law enforcement authorities. They could sell liquor to anybody, any time of day, any age.”

Flower shops, parking garages, and basement apartments got turned into illicit bars. These bars were called “speakeasies.” They got that name because patrons were supposed to speak quietly about them. In New York City alone, it was estimated that there were at least 32,000 speakeasies. That means there was one for every 243 residents. In these dimly lit clubs, jazz was popularized. This new form of American entertainment skyrocketed. It led writers and journalists to dub the 1920s the “Jazz Age” and the “Roaring Twenties.”

But millions of Americans did follow the law. That caused alcohol consumption to greatly decrease during the ’20s. Alcohol-related arrests, hospitalizations, and deaths also decreased during that decade. The drop in consumption was partly because only the wealthy could afford to drink. Beverages that once cost only 15 cents could now set you back a dollar (about $13 today).

Although Prohibition was intended in part to make people safer, in some ways, it had the opposite effect. Bootleg liquor was often cut with toxic chemicals, such as paint thinner and rubbing alcohol, and thousands of people suffered brain damage from ingesting it.

The Ku Klux Klan waged campaigns of terror against African Americans and other minorities, claiming that it was all in the name of enforcing Prohibition and “cleaning up” communities.

And gangsters, such as Al “Scarface” Capone, built empires from selling illegal liquor; Capone’s net worth was about $100 million in 1927 (nearly $1.5 billion today). In cities from Chicago to Detroit to New York, bloody turf wars broke out between rival gangs competing for control of the bootlegging business.

By the mid-1920s, because of the crime and the general disregard of the law by millions of Americans, many people had begun to view Prohibition as a big mistake. At the same time, the women who had fought hard for Prohibition gave way to a new generation of women who found liberation in going to speakeasies, where—unlike in the all-male saloons of the pre-Prohibition days—they were able to drink alongside men. Many women were now at the forefront of a growing anti-Prohibition movement.

Public opinion further turned against Prohibition after the stock market crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression. It no longer seemed reasonable to spend so much money enforcing Prohibition, especially when taxing alcohol could provide the government with income and a legal liquor industry could put unemployed Americans back to work.

Prohibition was intended in part to make people safer. In some ways, it had the opposite effect. Bootleg liquor was often cut with toxic chemicals, such as paint thinner and rubbing alcohol. As a result, thousands of people suffered brain damage from ingesting it.

The Ku Klux Klan waged campaigns of terror against African Americans and other minorities. They claimed that it was all in the name of enforcing Prohibition and “cleaning up” communities.

And gangsters, such as Al “Scarface” Capone, built empires from selling illegal liquor. Capone’s net worth was about $100 million in 1927 (nearly $1.5 billion today). In cities from Chicago to Detroit to New York, bloody turf wars broke out between rival gangs. These groups were competing for control of the bootlegging business.

By the mid-1920s, many people had begun to view Prohibition as a big mistake. Much of that is due to crime and the general disregard of the law by millions of Americans. At the same time, the women who had fought hard for Prohibition gave way to a new generation of women. These women found liberation in going to speakeasies. There unlike in the all-male saloons of the pre-Prohibition days, they were able to drink alongside men. Many women were now at the forefront of a growing anti-Prohibition movement.

Public opinion further turned against Prohibition after the stock market crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression. It no longer seemed reasonable to spend so much money enforcing Prohibition. Taxing alcohol could provide the government with income. A legal liquor industry could also put unemployed Americans back to work.

Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned for president on the promise to bring the U.S. out of the Depression. Just nine months after he took the oath of office in 1933, Prohibition was officially repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. Soon, the drinks began to flow in some American cities, as people toasted their regained freedom.

However, other states retained Prohibition laws for several years. And in New York City, where many people had ignored Prohibition in the first place, it seemed that not much had changed. The New York Times reported that the city celebrated in an “orderly” fashion.

Downtown New York “was almost somber in early evening,” the Times said, noting that “the sparkle had gone out of speakeasies turned legal.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned for president on the promise to bring the U.S. out of the Depression. He took the oath of office in 1933. Just nine months later, Prohibition was officially repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. Soon, the drinks began to flow in some American cities. People across the nation toasted their regained freedom.

But other states retained Prohibition laws for several years. Many people in New York City had ignored Prohibition in the first place. There, it seemed that not much had changed. The New York Times reported that the city celebrated in an “orderly” fashion.

Downtown New York “was almost somber in early evening,” the Times said, noting that “the sparkle had gone out of speakeasies turned legal.”

The 18th Amendment is the only constitutional amendment ever to be repealed. Yet some of its effects are still felt today, historians say, such as the persistence of organized crime and the invention of the modern nightclub. Stricter regulations around alcohol—including age limits to drink it and liquor licenses to make it—were also put into place by states after Prohibition.

One hundred years later, most historians view Prohibition as a failed experiment. But there’s a lesson to be gleaned from it, says Okrent.

“We know not to ever do that again,” he says. “The great lesson is that you can’t legislate against human appetite. If people want something that isn’t immediately injurious to someone else, they’re going to get it.”

The 18th Amendment is the only constitutional amendment ever to be repealed. Yet some of its effects are still felt today, historians say. That includes things like the persistence of organized crime and the invention of the modern nightclub. Stricter laws around alcohol were also put into place by states after Prohibition. Those regulations include age limits to drink alcohol and liquor licenses to make it.

One hundred years later, most historians view Prohibition as a failed experiment. But there’s a lesson we can learn from it, says Okrent.

“We know not to ever do that again,” he says. “The great lesson is that you can’t legislate against human appetite. If people want something that isn’t immediately injurious to someone else, they’re going to get it.”

With reporting by Jennifer Harlan of The Times.

With reporting by Jennifer Harlan of The Times.