Prohibition: Years, Amendment and Definition - HISTORY | HISTORY By: HISTORY.com Editors 1920s Prohibition HISTORY.com Editors Bettmann / Contributor / Getty ImagesPublished: October 29, 2009Last Updated: July 14, 2026 Table of contents 1 Origins of Prohibition 2 Volstead Act 3 Enforcement of Prohibition 4 Organized Crime 5 When Did Prohibition End? 6 Sources Table of contents The Prohibition Era began in 1920 when the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors, went into effect with the passage of the Volstead Act. Despite the new legislation, Prohibition was difficult to enforce. The increase of the illegal production and sale of liquor (known as “bootlegging”), the proliferation of speakeasies (illegal drinking spots) and the accompanying rise in gang violence and organized crime led to waning support for Prohibition by the end of the 1920s. In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. The 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, ending Prohibition. Origins of Prohibition 10 Things You Don't Know About Prohibition Here are 10 things you didn't know about prohibition. 3:05m watch In the 1820s and ’30s, a wave of religious revivalism swept the United States, leading to increased calls for temperance, as well as other “perfectionist” movements such as the abolitionist movement to end slavery. In 1838, the state of Massachusetts passed a temperance law banning the sale of spirits in less than 15-gallon quantities; though the law was repealed two years later, it set a precedent for such legislation. Maine passed the first state prohibition laws in 1846, followed by a stricter law in 1851. A number of other states had followed suit by the time the Civil War began in 1861. Did you know? In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated the incumbent President Herbert Hoover, who once called Prohibition "the great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far reaching in purpose." Some say FDR celebrated the repeal of Prohibition by enjoying a dirty martini, his preferred drink. By the turn of the century, temperance societies like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) were a common fixture in communities across the United States. Women played a strong role in the temperance movement, as alcohol was seen as a destructive force in families and marriages. In 1906, a new wave of attacks began on the sale of liquor, led by the Anti-Saloon League (established in 1893) and driven by a reaction to urban growth, as well as the rise of evangelical Protestantism and its view of saloon culture as corrupt and ungodly. In addition, many factory owners during the Industrial Revolution supported prohibition in their desire to prevent accidents and increase the efficiency of their workers in an era of increased industrial production and extended working hours. During Prohibition, city 'speakeasies' thrived. Patrons whispered passwords for entry to these secret bars, like this 1930s spot. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images This image shows law enforcement agents dismantling the bar inside a speakeasy that had been raided in Camden, New Jersey Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images To evade Prohibition agents, moonshiners wore 'cow shoes' with hoof-shaped soles so tracks looked bovine. Police seized this pair. Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images During Prohibition, drinkers hid alcohol creatively—like this woman showing a fake book designed to conceal a liquor flask. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images As this 1932 photograph shows, home furnishings such as lamps were also adapted into hiding spots for alcohol bottles. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images In this 1928 photo, a woman’s plain overcoat hides two large alcohol tins strapped to her thighs—clever Prohibition-era smuggling. George Rinhart/Corbis/Getty Images In 1922, a woman at a Washington, D.C., soda fountain poured liquor from her cane—an example of stylish ingenuity during Prohibition. National Photo Company/PhotoQuest/Getty Images Before Prohibition enforcement moved to the Justice Department, US Treasury agents found 191 pint bottles hidden under a sailor’s mattress in Norfolk. Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images In 1926 Los Angeles, agents found 70 cases of Scotch hidden in a lumber truck—one of many clever bootlegging schemes nationwide. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images In 1930, police raided Eugene Shine’s Long Beach, California, home, uncovering $20,000 in liquor—evidence of large-scale bootlegging. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Volstead Act In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson instituted a temporary wartime prohibition in order to save grain for producing food. That same year, Congress submitted the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors, for state ratification. Though Congress had stipulated a seven-year time limit for the process, the amendment received the support of the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states in just 11 months. Ratified on January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment went into effect one year later, by which time no fewer than 33 states had already enacted their own prohibition legislation. In October 1919, Congress put forth the National Prohibition Act, which provided guidelines for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. Championed by Representative Andrew Volstead of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, the legislation was more commonly known as the Volstead Act.