Eighteenth Amendment

The 18th Amendment to the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, ratified in 1919, prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" and their importation and exportation.  It was adopted after a nationwide crusade by temperance groups (see TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT), notably the Women's Christian Temperance Union, or WCTU.  The amendment was enforced and defined by Congress in the Volstead Act (1919; see VOLSTEAD, ANDREW JOSEPH), which was passed over President Wilson's veto.  One result of the amendment was that the production and sale of alcoholic beverages became the province of organized crime.  Americans did not stop drinking, and their demands for liquor were met by wide-scale smuggling and BOOTLEGGING, much of which was controlled by such gangs as that led by Al CAPONE in Chicago.  The era of PROHIBITION ended in 1933 when the 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21ST AMENDMENT. 

Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.