1. Prohibition Did Not Prohibit the Drinking of Alcohol
The Eighteenth Amendment did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, only its manufacture, sale, and transportation. It was quite legal for people to drink up in their own homes, and in the year’s grace period between the ratification of Prohibition and it is going into effect, Americans rushed to stockpile as much booze as they could, in anticipation of the dry days to come.
For the wealthy, Prohibition was not much of an inconvenience. They had the means to purchase more liquor and wine than they could consume in a lifetime, and they had the cellar space in their various residences in which to store their alcohol. For average Americans of average means, it was a different story. Satisfying their demand for booze, the Eighteenth Amendment be damned, made the thirteen years of Prohibition one of the most fascinating eras of American history – but that is a story for another day.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Aaron, Paul, and Musto, David – Temperance and Prohibition in America: An Historical Overview (1981)
Behr, Edward – Prohibition: Thirteen Yeas That Changed America (1996)
Burns, Eric – The Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol (2003)
Encyclopedia Britannica – Anti Saloon League
Encyclopedia Britannica – Prohibition
Encyclopedia Britannica – Temperance Movement
Kobler, John – Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (1973)
New York Times, January 19th, 2019 – How the Klan Fueled Prohibition
Ohio History Central – Temperance Movement
Orkent, Daniel – Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (2010)
PBS – Prohibition: Anti Saloon League
Wikipedia – Prohibition in the United States
Smithsonian Magazine – The Modern Craft Cocktail Movement Got Its Start During Prohibition
Paste Magazine – The 1800s: When Americans Drank Whiskey Like it was Water
History – 7 Things You Might Not Know About the Women’s Suffrage Movement
BBC – Prohibition: US Activists Fight for Temperance 100 Years On
Bill of Rights Institution – Was Prohibition a Success or a Failure?
Constitution Daily – Five Interesting Facts About Prohibition’s End In 1933
Vine Pair – For Some States, Prohibition Didn’t End When the 21st Amendment Passed