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Prohibition
*** Shopping-Tip: Prohibition
: ''This article is about the prohibition of alcoholic beverages; separate articles on
Prohibition (drugs) the prohibition of drugs in general and
Prohibition (writ) writs of prohibition are also available.''
Image:Prohibition.jpg thumb|right|250px|Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol.
'''Prohibition''' was any of several periods during which the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of
alcoholic beverages were restricted or illegal.
Prohibition in the United States
Image:Stamp-ctc-prohibition.jpg thumb|left|182px|"Prohibition enforced," as illustrated by a USPS stamp.
In the United States, Prohibition was accomplished by means of the
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Eighteenth Amendment to the national Constitution (ratified
January 16,
1919) and the
Volstead Act (passed
October 28,
1919). Prohibition began on
January 16,
1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the law.
Prohibition also referred to that part of the
Temperance movement which wanted to make alcohol illegal. Prohibitionists had some success even before national prohibition; in 1905, three American states had already outlawed alcohol; by 1912, it was up to nine states; and, by 1916, legal prohibition was already in effect in 26 of the 48 states.
Even though the sale of alcohol was illegal, alcoholic drinks were still widely available at "
speakeasy speakeasies" and other underground drinking establishments. Speakeasies gained their name from the fact that a patron had to "speak easy" and convince the doorman to let them in. His job was to keep out those who looked like they were "dry" agents. Agents had no forced-entry rights at all, and so could not break into an establishment if the doorman refused them entry. Many people also kept private bars to serve their guests. Large quantities of alcohol were smuggled in from Canada, overland and via the Great Lakes, and from the French islands of
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Additional alcohol was delivered from
Rum-running Rum Row off the US East Coast.
Legal and illegal home brewing was popular during Prohibition. Limited amounts of wine and hard
cider were permitted to be made at home. Some commercial wine was still produced in the U.S., but was only available through government warehouses for use in religious ceremonies, particularly for
Eucharist communion in
Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox and
Episcopal Church in the United States of America Episcopal churches and in some
Judaism Jewish ceremonies. "Malt and hop" stores popped up across the country and some former breweries turned to selling malt extract syrup, ostensibly for baking and "beverage" purposes.
Image:Prohibition prescription front.jpg thumb|250px|A "Medicinal Alcohol" form
Whisky was available by prescription from medical doctors. The labels clearly warned that it was strictly for medicinal purposes and any other uses were illegal, but even so doctors freely wrote prescriptions and druggists filled them without question, and the number of "patients" soared. Authorities never tried to restrict this practice, which was the way many people got their booze: Over a million gallons were consumed per year through freely given prescriptions.
Because Prohibition banned only the manufacture, sale, and transport--but not possession or consumption--of alcohol, some people and institutions who had bought or made liquor prior to the passage of the 18th Amendment were able to continue to serve it throughout the prohibition period legally.
Even prominent citizens and politicians later admitted to having used alcohol during Prohibition.
Warren G. Harding President Harding kept the White House well stocked with bootleg liquor, though, as a Senator, he had voted for Prohibition. This discrepancy between legality and actual practice led to widespread disdain for authority. Some Prohibition agents took bribes to overlook the illegal brewing activities of gangsters. Many problems arose. It had been estimated that six million dollars would be needed to enforce prohibition laws. Over time, however, more people drank illegally and money ended up in gangsters' pockets. Gangsters would then bribe officials to ignore their illegal activities. The cost of enforcing prohibition laws thus increased. In some cases, the money likely ended up in corrupt Prohibition agencies.
Prohibition also presented lucrative opportunities for
organized crime to take over the importation ("
bootlegging"), manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages.
Al Capone, one of the most infamous
bootleg liquor bootleggers of them all, built his criminal empire largely on profits from illegal alcohol.
With alcohol production largely in the hands of criminals and unregulated clandestine home manufacturers, the quality of the product varied widely. There were many cases of people going blind or suffering from brain damage after drinking "bathtub gin" made with industrial alcohol or various poisonous chemicals. One particular notorious incident involved the
patent medicine Jamaica ginger, known by its users as "
Jake." It had a very high alcohol content and was known to be consumed by those desiring to circumvent the ban on alcohol. The Treasury Department mandated changes in the formulation to make it undrinkable. Unscrupulous vendors then adulterated their Jake with an industrial
plasticizer in an attempt to fool government testing. As a result, tens of thousands of victims suffered paralysis of their feet and hands—usually, this paralysis was permanent. Some amateur distillers used old automobile
radiators to distill liquor, and the subsequent product was dangerously high in lead salts--which usually led to fatal lead poisoning. Amateur distillation of liquor could be dangerous to the producer as well, since poorly built stills sometimes exploded in flames.
There were also many alcoholic products that fell just under the legal limit, and yet, with a bit of work, could become the real thing. One particular beverage was called "
near beer," because it fell under the 0.5-percent ban, being virtually nonalcoholic. It gave detailed, step-by-step instructions on what the buyer should ''not'' (under any circumstances) do with it, for then he or she would have alcohol, and that was illegal. Consumers could simply use the easy-to-follow instructions to make an alcoholic beer.
Mockery of the law took many forms. There were, however, exceptions to this public scorn, such as the activities of
Eliot Ness and his elite team of Treasury Agents nicknamed
The Untouchables (law enforcement) The Untouchables, and the
New York City prohibition agent team of
Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith, known together as simply Izzy and Moe. For these exceptions, Ness' honesty and flair for public relations and Izzy and Moe's more eccentric, but highly effective, methods with disguises attracted considerable media attention.
The Volstead Act was amended to allow "3.2 beer" (3.2 percent alcohol by volume) by passage of the
Blaine Act on
February 17,
1933. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed later in 1933 with ratification of the
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution Twenty-first Amendment on
December 5.
The
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed nationwide prohibition, explicitly gives states the right to restrict or ban the purchase and sale of alcohol; this has led to a patchwork of laws, in which alcohol may be legally sold in some but not all towns or counties within a particular state. After the repeal of the national constitutional amendment, some states continued to enforce prohibition laws;
Oklahoma,
Kansas, and
Mississippi were still "dry" in
1948. Mississippi, which had made alcohol illegal in 1907, was the last state to repeal prohibition, in
1966. While there are still some dry counties and communities in the United States (mainly in the South), in practice this now means little more than that people wishing to buy alcohol must travel some distance to do so and bars are not allowed in the prohibiting jurisdiction.
Many social problems have been attributed to the Prohibition era. A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished.
Racketeering happened when powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies. Stronger liquor surged in popularity because its potency made it more profitable to smuggle. The cost of enforcing prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers. When
repeal of prohibition occurred in 1933, following passage of the
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution Twenty-first Amendment,
organized crime lost nearly all of its
black market alcohol profits, due to competition with low-priced alcohol sales at legal liquor stores. Organized crime later adjusted by selling illegal drugs instead. The
black market thrives on the sale of any illegal product. On such points as these, the modern "
War on Drugs" has been compared to Prohibition, but there is disagreement on the validity of this comparison.
Prohibition had a notable effect on the brewing industry in the United States. When Prohibition ended, only half the breweries that had previously existed reopened. Many small breweries were out of business for good. Because mainly the largest breweries had survived, American beer came to be chided as a characterless, mass-produced commodity. Beer connoisseurs lamented the decreased quality and variety. It was only in the 1980s that craft brewing finally recovered.
Fritz Maytag has been credited with jumpstarting the
microbrew revolution that awoke brewing from its post-Prohibition doldrums.
=Trivia
=
* During Prohibition, temperance activists hired a scholar to rewrite the Christian Bible by removing all references to alcohol beverage.
* The
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) strongly supported Prohibition and its strict enforcement.
* When the ship, ''Washington'', was
Ship_naming_and_launching launched, a bottle of water rather than traditional
Champagne (beverage) champagne or wine, was ceremoniously broken across her bow.
*In the 1890's, Carry Nation, from the WCTU fought for prohibition by walking into saloons, scolding customers, and using her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Other activists enforced the cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloon keepers to stop selling alcohol.
* The first beer sold in the United States after Prohibition was Utica Club of the F.X. Matt's Brewery in Utica, NY.
Further reading: USA
* Ernest Cherrington, ed., ''Standard Encyclopaedia of the Alcohol Problem'' 6 volumes (1925-1930),
* Blocker, Jr., Jack S. ''Retreat from Reform: The Prohibition Movement in the United States, 1890-1913'' Greenwood Press, 1976
* Jack S. Blocker Jr.; ''Alcohol, Reform, and Society: The Liquor Issue in Social Context'' Greenwood Press, 1979
* Ruth Bordin, ''Woman and Temperance: The Quest for Power and Liberty, 1873-1900'' 1981
* Clark; Norman H. ''Deliver Us From Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition.'' W.W. Norton , 1976.
* Jed Dannenbaum, "The Origins of Temperance Activism and Militancy among American Women", ''Journal of Social History'' vol. 14 (1981): 235-36.
* Perry R. Duis, ''The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920'' (Urbana, 1983)
* Hamm, Richard. "American Prohibitionists and Violence, 1865-1920" (1995) [http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/History/prohibit.htm online] with bibliography
* Hamm, Richard; '' Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment: Temperance Reform, Legal Culture, and the Polity, 1880-1920'' U of North Carolina Press, 1995
* Jensen, Richard. ''The Winning of the Midwest, Social and Political Conflict, 1888-1896'' University of Chicago Press, 1971
* Austin Kerr, ''Organized for Prohibition: A New History of the Anti-Saloon League'' (New Haven, CN: Yale University Press,
* Jon M. Kingsdale, "The 'Poor Man's Club': Social Functions of the Urban Working-Class Saloon," ''American Quarterly'' vol. 25 (October, 1973): 472-89
* David E. Kyvig; ''Law, Alcohol, and Order: Perspectives on National Prohibition'' Greenwood Press, 1985
* Mark Lender, editor, ''Dictionary of American Temperance Biography'' Greenwood Press, 1984
* Miron, Jeffrey A. and Jeffrey Zwiebel. “Alcohol Consumption During Prohibition.� ''American Economic Review'' 81, no. 2 (1991): 242-247.
* Miron, Jeffrey A. "Alcohol Prohibition" ''Eh.Net Encyclopedia'' (2005) [http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/article/miron.prohibition.alcohol online]
* James Clyde Sellman; "Social Movements and the Symbolism of Public Demonstrations: The 1874 Women's Crusade and German Resistance in Richmond, Indiana" ''Journal of Social History''. Volume: 32. Issue: 3. 1999. pp 557+.
* John J. Rumbarger; ''Profits, Power, and Prohibition: Alcohol Reform and the Industrializing of America, 1800-1930'' State University of New York Press, 1989
* Sinclair; Andrew. ''Prohibition: The Era of Excess'' 1962.
* Timberlake, James. ''Prohibition and the Progressive Movement, 1900-1920'' Harvard University Press, 1963
* Sarah W. Tracy and Caroline Jean Acker; ''Altering American Consciousness: The History of Alcohol and Drug Use in the United States, 1800-2000'' U of Massachusetts Press, 2004
* Victor A. Walsh, "'Drowning the Shamrock': Drink, Teetotalism and the Irish Catholics of Gilded-Age Pittsburgh," ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' vol. 10, no. 1-2 (Fall 1990-Winter 1991): 60-79.
Further Reading: World
* Susanna Barrows, Robin Room, and Jeffrey Verhey (eds.), ''The Social History of Alcohol: Drinking and Culture in Modern Society'' (Berkeley, Calif: Alcohol Research Group, 1987)
* Susanna Barrows and Robin Room (eds.), ''Drinking: Behavior and Belief in Modern History'' University of California Press, 1991
* Ernest Cherrington, ed., ''Standard Encyclopaedia of the Alcohol Problem'' 6 volumes (1925-1930), comprehensive international coverage to late 1920s
* Dwight B. Heath, ed; ''International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture'' Greenwood Press, 1995
* Patricia Herlihy; ''The Alcoholic Empire: Vodka & Politics in Late Imperial Russia'' Oxford University Press, 2002
* Craig MacAndrew and Robert B. Edgerton. ''Drunken Comportment: A Social Explanation'' (1969).
* Ian Tyrrell; ''Woman's World/Woman's Empire: The Woman's Christian Temperance Union in International Perspective, 1880-1930'' U of North Carolina Press, 1991
* Helene R. White (eds.), ''Society, Culture and Drinking Patterns Reexamined'' (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, 1991).
Prohibition in other countries
The first half of the
20th century saw periods of Prohibition in several countries
*
1901 to
1948 in
Prince Edward Island, and for shorter periods in other locations in
Canada,
*
1914 to
1925 in
Russia (called "
sukhoy zakon", also transcribed as Sukhoi zakon)
*
1915 to
1922 in
Iceland (though beer was still prohibited until
1989)
*
1916 to
1927 in
Norway (wine and beer also included in
1917)
*
1919 to
1932 in
Finland (called ''kieltolaki''; ''see
:fi:Suomen_alkoholin_kieltolaki "kieltolaki" on Finnish )
Australia
Image:Prohibition lifted in Canberra 1928.jpg right|thumb|The first consignment of liquor for Canberra, following the repeal of prohibition laws in 1928.
Alcohol is prohibited in many remote
Indigenous peoples of Oceania indigenous communities across
Australia. Penalties for transporting alcohol into these "dry" communities are severe and can result in confiscation of any vehicles involved. In dry areas within the
Northern Territory, all vehicles used to transport alcohol are seized and there is no right of appeal.
There have been various places proclaimed alcohol free in the past, including Australia's capital city,
Canberra, which was dry from 1910 to 1928. The politician
King O'Malley ran legislation through Federal Parliament in Melbourne at the time the capital territory was established. When Federal Parliament moved from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927, one of the first pieces of legislation passed in the new Parliament House was the repeal of O'Malley's prohibition laws.
A number of
Melbourne's suburbs had a long running prohibition on the sale (though not consumption) of alcohol. One or two still exist. Ascot Vale was founded as a dry suburb, but hotels were soon built at the outside corners of the settlement.
Similarly, the irrigation settlement of
Mildura was also founded with a prohibition on the sale of alcohol in 1887. This was inaugurated by its founders, the Chaffey brothers. However, the brothers also operated a winery, even producing
fortified wine. Alcohol was readily available from nearby
Wentworth however, and the ban was eventually lifted.
'''Canada'''
An official but non-binding federal referendum was held in
1898 on prohibition, receiving 51.3% for to 48.7% against prohibition on a voter turnout of 44%. Prohibition had a majority in all provinces except for Quebec, where a strong 81.10% voted against [http://www.quebecpolitique.com/referendums/ref05-en.html]. Despite the majority,
Wilfrid Laurier's government chose not to introduce a federal bill on prohibition, perhaps mindful of the strong antipathy in Quebec.
As a result, Canadian prohibition was instead enacted through laws passed by the provinces during the first twenty years of the
twentieth century.
Prince Edward Island was the first to bring in prohibition in
1900.
Alberta passed a prohibition law in
1916.
Quebec passed legislation in
1918 that would prohibit alcohol in
1919 for the duration of World War I. However, since the war ended in 1918, prohibition was never implemented in the province. The provinces then repealed their prohibition laws, mostly during the 1920s. Quebec was first to repeal in
1920, giving it the shortest amount of time with prohibition enforced; Prince Edward Island was last in
1948. Alberta repealed in
1924, along with Saskatchewan, upon realizing that the laws were unenforceable.
'''India'''
Gujarat is the only 'dry' state in
India where the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol are illegal. Alcohol is legally available to adults throughout the remainder of
India. However, there were several 'dry' spells between
1950 and
2000 in other states including
Andhra Pradesh and
Haryana.
Scandinavian countries
Scandinavia, with the exception of
Denmark, has had a long temperance tradition. Prohibition was enforced in
Iceland from 1915 to 1922 (with beer prohibited until
1989), in
Norway from
1916 to
1927 and in
Finland between 1919 and 1932. Scandinavian countries today, with the exception of Denmark, are characterised by
neo-prohibitionism. In Norway (
Vinmonopolet),
Sweden (
Systembolaget), and Finland (
Alko), there are government
monopoly monopolies in place for selling liquors, wine and stronger beers to consumers. Corporations, like bars and restaurants, may import alcoholic beverages directly or through other companies. The Scandinavian countries also have a waning, but still influential, temperance movement (parts of which are affiliated with the
International Order of Good Templars), which advocates strict government regulations concerning the consumption of alcohol.
Muslim-majority countries
= Middle East and Central Asia
=
Saudi Arabia completely bans the production, importation or consumption of alcohol and imposes strict penalties on those violating the ban, as does
Kuwait.
Qatar bans the importation of alcohol and it is a punishable offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in public. Offenders may incur a prison sentence or deportation. Alcohol is, however, available at licensed hotel restaurants and bars, and expatriates living in Qatar can obtain alcohol on a permit system.
The
United Arab Emirates restricts the purchase of alcohol from a liquor store to non-
Muslim foreigners who have UAE residence permits and who have an Interior Ministry liquor license. However bars, clubs, and other establishments with liquor licenses do not face the same restrictions. Alcohol is also permitted in
Bahrain, popular with those crossing the causeway from Saudi Arabia.
Iran began restricting alcohol consumption and production soon after the
Iranian Revolution 1979 Revolution, with harsh penalties meted out for violations of the law. However, officially recognized non-Muslim minorities are allowed to produce wine for their own private consumption and for religious rites such as the
Eucharist. Alcohol was banned in
Afghanistan during the rule of the
Taliban.
= Pakistan
=
Pakistan allowed the free sale and consumption of alcohol for three decades from
1947, but restrictions were introduced by
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto just weeks before he was removed as prime minister in
1977. Since then, only members of non-Muslim minorities such as
Hindus,
Christians and
Zoroastrians are allowed to apply for permits for alcohol. The monthly quota depends on their income but is usually about five bottles of liquor or 100 bottles of beer. In a country of 140 million, only about 60 outlets are allowed to sell alcohol and the country's only legal brewery, Murree Brewery in
Rawalpindi, is not allowed to export. Enforced by the country's Islamic Ideology Council, the ban is strictly policed. However, members of religious minorities often sell their liquor permits to Muslims and a black market trade in alcohol continues. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/10/1047144915849.html?from=moreStories]
= Bangladesh
=
Bangladesh has also imposed prohibition, though some hotels and restaurants are licensed to sell alcohol to foreigners. Foreigners (but not locals) are allowed to import small quantities of alcohol for personal use.
= Brunei
=
Non-Muslims may bring small quantities of alcohol into
Brunei for personal consumption.{{fact}}
= North Africa
=
Libya bans the import, sale and consumption of alcohol, with heavy penalties for offenders.
Tunisia and
Morocco have a selective ban on alcohol, with consumption and sale being allowed in special zones or bars "for tourists".
= Sudan
=
Sudan has banned alcohol consumption.
= The Maldives
=
The Maldives bans the import of alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are only available to foreign tourists on resort islands and should not be taken off the resort.
Reference
* Ernest Cherrington, ed., ''Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem'' 6 volumes (1925-1930),
See also
*
Al Capone
*
Repeal of prohibition
*
Repeal organizations
*
Yuengling (America's oldest family owned brewery, survived since 1829)
*
United States Prohibition Party
*
Temperance movement
*
Bureau of Prohibition
*
James D. Porter, Jr. and the
Four Mile Law in Tennessee
*
Rum-running
*
Network Against Prohibition
*
Dry counties
*
American Whiskey Trail
*
Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment
External links
-
National Prohibition of Alcohol in the U.S.
-
The Noble Experiment
-
Alcohol prohibition (EH.Net
economic history encyclopedia)
-
Prohibition in Canada
-
The Effect of Alcohol Prohibition on Alcohol Consumption (PDF)
-
Network Against Prohibition - latest news on alcohol and other drug prohibition from the Northern Territory of Australia
-
Hypertext History - U.S. Prohibition
-
Policy Analysis - Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure
-
About.com: Prohibition (in the U.S.)
-
Free from the Nightmare of Prohibition by
Harry Browne
Category:Prohibition
Category:Law enforcement
Category:Alcohol law
Category:American culture
ar:منع الكØول
de:Alkolholprohibition
es:Ley seca
eu:Lege lehor
fr:Prohibition
he:חוק היובש
nl:Drooglegging (Verenigde Staten)
pl:Prohibicja
ru:Сухой закон
fi:Kieltolaki
sv:Förbudstiden
Category:Alcohol
Category:Eras of United States history
Category:Legal history of the United States
Category:Social history of the United States
*** Shopping-Tip: Prohibition
