Repeal of Prohibition

Repeal of Prohibition
Name	Repeal of Prohibition
Date	December 5, 1933
Location	United States
Outcome	Ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment; end of nationwide alcohol prohibition

Repeal of Prohibition was the process culminating in the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933, which ended national alcohol prohibition in the United States. The movement to end Prohibition involved political figures, social organizations, religious constituencies, legal authorities, and economic interests, and intersected with crises such as the Great Depression, debates in the United States Congress, and actions by state legislatures like those in New York (state), Ohio, and California. Key personalities and institutions included activists from the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, politicians such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, judges from the Supreme Court of the United States, and business groups including the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Background and Causes of Prohibition

Prohibition originated from decades of campaigns by organizations such as the Anti-Saloon League, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and advocates like Carry Nation and Frances Willard, culminating in the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and enforcement through the Volstead Act. Opposition and changing conditions included enforcement challenges highlighted by cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, the rise of organized crime networks led by figures associated with Al Capone, publicized incidents linked to bootlegging routes through Chicago, New York City, and St. Louis, and economic pressures following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the broader Great Depression. Cultural and political shifts involved opinion leaders such as H. L. Mencken, the editorial boards of newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times, and reformers connected to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor.

Political Movement Toward Repeal

Political momentum for repeal coalesced around groups like the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment and politicians including Al Smith, John Nance Garner, and Warren G. Harding's successors, with electoral dynamics in the 1928 United States presidential election and the 1932 United States presidential election elevating repeal as a campaign issue. The Democratic Party under Franklin D. Roosevelt incorporated repeal appeals into its platform, and state-level actors such as governors in Nevada, Michigan, and Pennsylvania lobbied for change. Influential advocates included businessmen from the National Association of Real Estate Boards, leaders of the United States Chamber of Commerce, and cultural figures like Mae West and F. Scott Fitzgerald who critiqued Prohibition in venues tied to Hollywood and the Harlem Renaissance.

Legislative Process and the Twenty-first Amendment

Congressional action began with resolutions submitted to the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives proposing an amendment to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, leading to the drafting of what became the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. Key legislative figures included senators who shepherded the amendment through committees in the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and representatives in the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, while state ratification involved legislatures in states such as Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Utah. The amendment process engaged constitutional scholars from institutions like Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, and legal practitioners from firms with ties to Wall Street and municipal bar associations in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

Impact and Immediate Consequences

Immediate consequences included the reopening of breweries, distilleries, and saloons in cities like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, the release and retrial of individuals convicted under Prohibition statutes in courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and shifts in law enforcement priorities for agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. Economic indicators tracked by institutions like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve Board showed changes in employment in sectors tied to alcohol production in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Political appointments under the Roosevelt administration connected to repeal included officials from the Treasury Department and the Alcohol Tax Unit.

Legal and Regulatory Changes Post-Repeal

After ratification, regulatory authority devolved to state legislatures and agencies such as the New York State Liquor Authority, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, producing diverse regimes from the license states like California to control states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana. Federal tax policy was managed by the United States Department of the Treasury, and subsequent statutes like the Internal Revenue Code provisions on excise taxes shaped the industry. Judicial interpretations by the Supreme Court of the United States and federal appellate courts clarified issues involving the Commerce Clause, state police powers as articulated in Hoke v. United States-era jurisprudence, and conflicts resolved in cases heard in circuits from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to the Third Circuit.

Social and Economic Effects

The end of national Prohibition had social effects in urban districts such as Harlem, Greenwich Village, and South Side, Chicago, influencing nightlife tied to venues like the Cotton Club, the Copacabana (nightclub), and theaters on Broadway (Manhattan), and affecting artists associated with the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Economic recovery narratives invoked by the Roosevelt administration connected alcohol tax revenues to relief programs administered by agencies including the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration, while entrepreneurs reconstituted companies with roots in Anheuser-Busch, Pabst Brewing Company, and Jack Daniel's. Public health discussions involved physicians affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, public health boards in Chicago and Boston, and social scientists at the Russell Sage Foundation.

Legacy and Historical Interpretation

Historians and scholars associated with universities like Columbia University, Princeton University, and Stanford University have debated the legacy of repeal in works engaging the roles of the Anti-Saloon League, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and cultural commentators such as H. L. Mencken and Dorothy Parker. Interpretations consider connections to enforcement challenges involving organized crime figures tied to Prohibition-era gangsters and policy frameworks influencing later federal reforms such as New Deal legislation from the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Museums and archives including the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the American Antiquarian Society preserve primary sources that continue to inform scholarly debates about federalism, constitutional amendment processes, and the cultural politics exemplified by repeal.

Category:United States constitutional amendments