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The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Ohio called for the abolition of the sale of alcohol. They were soon joined in the fight by the even more powerful Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893.
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The Anti-Saloon League led a renewed call for prohibition legislation at the state level. Through speeches, advertisements and public demonstrations at saloons and bars. Nation was known for smashing saloon windows and mirrors, destroying kegs of beer and whiskey with a hatchet.
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23 of 48 states had passed anti-saloon legislation. Many went further by prohibiting the manufacture of alcoholic beverages as well.
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January 29, 1919 congress ratified the 18th amendment which prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol in the United States.
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The national prohibition act known as the Volstead Act was to provide the government with enforcing prohibition.
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The illegal manufacture sell or ban of alcohol was known as bootlegging and occurred widely across the United States. It started to be controlled by the Mafia and other gangs that got huge profits from this illegal liquor trade. The Mafia became skilled at bribing the police and politicians to look the other way.
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Great Depression led some people arguing that the ban of alcohol denied jobs to unemployment. This angered many people and left many people unemployed.
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Franklin Roosevelt included a plank for repealing the 18th amendment and his victory that November marked an end to prohibition
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Congress adopted a resolution proposing the 21st amendment to the constitution which repealed the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act
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All states had abandoned prohibition. Since then, liquor control in the United States has largely been determined.
