Imagine an activity you do regularly – something you like to do on daily basis. Now imagine that the government made it illegal. How would it make you feel? That was a shock the United States of America received in 1920 when Prohibition became a written law. Prohibition was one of the most controversial topics in the 1920s, after the 18th Amendment went into effect on January 16, 1920. Title II, Section 3 of the National Prohibition Act states, "No person shall on or after the date when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in this act" (National Prohibition Act). Was the Prohibition good for United States? Did the American government make the correct decision to prohibit alcohol? I believe the Prohibition was not good for America because it created a rise in disrespect for the law, increased organized crime, corruption in law enforcement, the court system, and politics.
What was prohibition? According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of prohibition is, "The action of forbidding something, especially by law," which does explain a lot. The government banned alcohol on January 16, 1920. Prohibition had many of the same characteristics as a national reform. The characteristics common between prohibition with reform is that it is concerned with the moral fabric of society, supported mostly by the middle classes. According to library of congress. It was aimed at controlling the "interests" (liquor distillers) and their connections with venal and corrupt politicians in city, state, and national governments. Still, despite all of this, it was not until the U.S. entered into the Great War that prohibitionists were able to secure enactment of national legislation. In 1918, Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which meant prohibiting the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages.
