1920s and Prohibition

18th Amendment Passed

Dec 18, 1917

Congress passes the 18th Amendment, which would restrict the manufacture and sale of alcohol. States are given seven years to ratify the measure.

18th Amendment Ratified

Jan 16, 1919

18th Amendment is ratified when Nebraska becomes 36th state to bar the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes”; 46 of 48 states eventually support prohibition, with Connecticut and Rhode Island as the only holdouts. (Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states.

19th Amendment

Jun 4, 1919

Congress passes the 19th Amendment to give women the right to vote; ratified by the states on Aug. 18, 1920. Women were instrumental in the temperance movement.

Restricting Sales

Jun 30, 1919

Wartime Prohibition Act takes effect, restricting the sale of beverages containing more than 2.75% alcohol.

Thirsty First

Jul 1, 1919

Commonly referred to at the time as June “Thirsty-First” — the first day after wartime prohibition started.

Volstead Act

Oct 28, 1919

Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the National Prohibition Act, commonly called the Volstead Act, which makes it illegal to manufacture beverages with more than a half-percent of alcohol and provides enforcement of the 18th Amendment. It is named for Andrew Volstead, a Minnesota Republican who served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and introduced the bill.

Dry

Jan 17, 1920

The United States goes dry, shutting down the country’s fifth-largest industry.

Ushers Great Depression

1929

October 1929: The Wall Street crash begins, ushering in the Great Depression.

Campaigning

1932

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president after campaigning, among other things, to end Prohibition.

21st Amendment

Dec 5, 1933

21st Amendment repealing Prohibition is ratified.