Prohibition in the United States

In colonial America, alcohol was a staple of daily life, and drunkenness was viewed as a personal failure of character rather than a fault of the substance itself. This changed in the late 18th century when physician Benjamin Rush began labeling excessive drinking as a psychological disease. By the mid-1800s, this medical view merged with a religious crusade led by "pietistic" Protestants who saw the saloon as the epicenter of domestic violence and political corruption.

This "dry" sentiment was fueled by a unique "Do Everything" doctrine, notably by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. They didn't just want to stop drinking; they saw Prohibition as a gateway to broader social progress, including prison reform and labor laws. For these reformers, removing alcohol was the primary lever for "healing" a broken society and protecting the sanctity of the home.

The movement was defined by an "ethnoreligious" divide. The "Drys"—mostly Methodists, Baptists, and Quakers—viewed alcohol as a sin and a tool of corrupt city politics. Opposing them were the "Wets," primarily Catholics and German Lutherans, who argued that the government had no right to legislate morality. For many immigrants, beer and wine were central to their cultural and social identity, not just a vice.

The political balance finally tipped during World War I. The American beer industry was heavily tied to German-American communities; when the U.S. entered the war against Germany in 1917, the "Wet" opposition was effectively silenced by wartime patriotism. This allowed the 18th Amendment to pass with a staggering supermajority, ratified by 46 out of 48 states.

While the 18th Amendment banned the "manufacture, sale, or transportation" of intoxicating liquors, it did not actually outlaw the consumption or private possession of alcohol under federal law. The enabling legislation, the Volstead Act, carved out significant exceptions: wine for religious sacraments remained legal, and doctors could prescribe "medicinal" whiskey.

Enforcement was a logistical nightmare. The federal government lacked the personnel and resources to police every basement and back alley in America. In New York City alone, an estimated 30,000 to 100,000 "speakeasy" clubs emerged by 1925. This gap between the law and the public's behavior shifted the alcohol trade from legitimate businesses to violent crime syndicates and black markets.

The era’s success is still debated because the data is contradictory. On the medical front, Prohibition worked: rates of liver cirrhosis, alcoholic psychosis, and infant mortality declined significantly. However, because the trade was now controlled by organized crime, the United States saw its highest homicide rates of the early 20th century.

While the "Drys" claimed Prohibition reduced overall consumption, the "Wets" pointed to the "scourge of organized crime" and the loss of personal liberty. By the late 1920s, even former supporters began to turn. The onset of the Great Depression provided the final blow; the government desperately needed the tax revenue that a legal alcohol industry would provide, leading to the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933—the only time in U.S. history an amendment was passed solely to repeal another.