Prohibition Remembrance Day is on January 16 annually. Did you know that one of the groups that were instrumental in the passage of the 18th Amendment was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.)? They believed an amendment would protect children, women, and families from the effects of alcohol abuse by reducing social problems such as poverty, crime, mental illness, and drunkenness. Prohibition had effects on society, but it isn’t as straightforward as it might seem!
Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.
In 1906, waves of attacks began on the sale of liquor, led by the Anti-Saloon League driven by a reaction to urban growth, as well as the rise of evangelical Protestantism and its view of saloon culture as corrupt and ungodly. In addition, many factory owners supported prohibition in their desire to prevent accidents and increase the efficiency of their workers in an era of increased industrial production and extended working hours.
Prohibition came about after many years of work by those in the temperance movement, who wanted complete abstinence from alcohol. As a whole, the movement had close ties to the church. By the time the amendment went into effect, many states already had prohibition laws on the books, which helped with the final passage of the amendment.
The amendment was quite controversial during its 13-year tenure, and public pressure eventually led to its repeal. There were debates about its positive and negative qualities during its implementation, as there have been since its overturning. Overall, alcohol consumption declined during the Prohibition period, cirrhosis rates decreased, and admissions to mental hospitals for alcohol-related issues decreased.
