How Did Prohibition Affect Society

Prohibition, which began on January 16, 1920, outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the United States and its territories, under the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, until its repeal on December 5, 1933. Prohibition is generally referred to as the “Noble Experiment” because it was designed to reduce the negative effects that alcohol had on families and society. Excessive consumption of alcohol, primarily by men, often resulted in domestic violence, poor work performance, and carless spending of wages on alcohol, which were essential to support families. Although the Eighteenth Amendment did decrease alcohol-related consequences, ultimately the Eighteenth Amendment increase the illegal production and sale of liquor known as
In December of 1873 women staged a revolt against saloon owners in states like Ohio and New York. Several thousand saloons were temporally shut down but many opened back up shortly after closure. In 1874, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded. Frances Willard was the leader of the WCTU, and the WCTU became the most powerful women’s organization in the late nineteenth-century. Although its focus was on temperance, under the leadership of Willard, the WCTU advocated a variety of social reforms, including woman suffrage. The WCTU was successful in achieving many important temperance measures. Mary H. Hunt a member of the WCTU concluded early on that people would accept anti-drinking laws only if generations of students learned that drinking was dangerous. By 1901, due to WCTU efforts, every state in the nation had some kind temperance education laws in public schools. One of the most colorful members of the WCTU was Carry Nation. Beginning in 1900, Nation traveled around Kansas, smashing saloons with a hatchet. While Nations could sway opinions, she and