The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the
The Eighteenth Amendment in the National Archives
After the 36th state adopted the amendment on January 16, 1919, the U.S. Secretary of State had to issue a formal proclamation declaring its ratification. Implementing and enforcement bills had to be presented to Congress and state legislatures, to be enacted before the amendment's effective date one year later.
Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol
The temperance movement in the United States, which sought to curb the consumption of alcohol, had a large influence on American politics and American society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
…making it the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed. The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which held that a ban on the sale of alcohol would ameliorate poverty and other societal problems. The Eighteenth Amendment declared the production…
The Drunkard's Progress: A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier supporting the temperance movement, January 1846.
Soldiers drinking whiskey and playing cards
Postcard depicting Temperance Hall
A temperance fountain in Tompkins Square Park, New York City