On March 23, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Volstead Act, known as the Cullen-Harrison Act, which authorized the production and sale of „3.2“ beer (3.2% alcohol by weight) and light wines. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed later in 1933 with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5. In addition, the prohibition era encouraged the rise of criminal activity related to smuggling. The most notorious example is Chicago gangster Al Capone, who earned an incredible $60 million a year through smuggling and speakease operations. These illegal operations led to a corresponding increase in gang violence, including the 1929 St. Valentine`s Day Massacre in Chicago, in which several men disguised as police officers (and presumably associated with Capone) shot and killed a group of men in an enemy gang. The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified in hopes of banning alcohol from American life. In this respect, it has failed. On the contrary, people who wanted to drink found loopholes in newly passed anti-alcohol laws that allowed them to quench their thirst, and when that didn`t work, they turned to illegal ways to do so. A whole black market – made up of smugglers, illegal immigrants and distillers – emerged in the aftermath of prohibition, as did the organized crime syndicates that coordinated the complex chain of liquor production and distribution operations. Corruption in law enforcement became widespread when criminal organizations used corruption to keep officials in their pockets. Prohibition also hurt the economy by destroying jobs in what was once the fifth-largest industry in the United States.
By the late 1920s, prohibition had lost its luster for many of those who had previously been the most ardent supporters of politics, and was abolished by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933. Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values that emerged in the United States. Given the massive influx of migrants into America`s urban centers, many within the prohibition movement have associated the crime and morally corrupt behavior of American cities with their large immigrant populations. The salons frequented by immigrants in these cities were often frequented by politicians who wanted to get votes from immigrants in exchange for favors such as job offers, legal aid, and food baskets. Saloons were considered fertile ground for political corruption. [52] Grape juice was not restricted by prohibition, although when left to stand for sixty days, it fermented and became wine with an alcohol content of twelve percent. Many people took advantage of this when grape juice production quadrupled during the prohibition period. [87] Vine-Glo was sold for this purpose and included a specific warning telling people how to make wine from it.
The first beer to be sold legally in the United States after prohibition was the Utica Club at F.X. Matt`s Brewery in Utica, New York. National prohibition grew out of the temperance movement. The temperance movement advocated moderation – and in its most extreme form the complete abandonment of alcohol consumption (although actual prohibition only prohibited the production, transportation, and trade of alcohol, not its consumption). The temperance movement began to build a sequel in the 1820s and 30s, aided by the spirit of religious revival that gripped the nation at the time. The religious establishment continued to be at the center of the movement, as evidenced by the fact that the Anti-Saloon League – which was founded in the early 20th century. In the nineteenth century, he led the push for prohibition at the local, state, and federal levels, and received much of his support from evangelical Protestant churches. A number of other forces also supported the movement, such as women`s rights activists who were concerned about the worsening impact of alcohol on the family unit, and industrialists interested in increasing the efficiency of their workers. According to Washington State University, prohibition has had a negative impact on the U.S.
economy. Prohibition has resulted in the loss of at least $226 million per year in tax revenue for spirits alone; Supporters of the ban expected an increase in soft drink sales to replace money from alcohol sales, but that didn`t happen.