Amendment 18

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.


Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

This amendment started prohibition, and made alcohol illegal in the United States.



This is a poster from the 1920's that tried to persuade people to abide by prohibition and not partake in illegal sale or production of alcohol. It shows a group of kids and attempts to persuade the viewer by telling them that it is for the children's sake. This poster seems to ignore the fact that prohibition created a substantial increase in organized crime and did not cut down on alcohol created or sold in the US.


This video describes prohibition and the reasons for its eventual repeal.