At exactly 12:01 a.m. on January 17, 1920, America entered a new era of restrictions.

Bars shut down. Kegs ran dry. Many people began stockpiling their spirits, beer, and wine to prepare for a 13-year period of dryness.

However, this brief period known as Prohibition, which aimed to prohibit the production and sale of alcohol, ended up causing more problems than it solved. Although it did manage to reduce alcohol consumption somewhat, it simultaneously spawned a lucrative black market for illegal liquor, fueled criminal enterprises, and resulted in a significant amount of unsafe and unregulated alcohol that harmed and killed many Americans.

Now, over a century later, here’s what you should know about the complex and sobering reality of enforced sobriety in America.

What Led to Prohibition?

While drinking alcohol wasn’t illegal, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the sale, manufacture, and transport of “intoxicating liquors.”

Long before the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919, the temperance movement had aimed to limit alcohol consumption on moral and religious grounds. This movement was primarily supported by Protestant groups and women’s organizations fighting against domestic violence.

Several states had already enacted their own restrictions and prohibitions on alcohol prior to the national ban. During World War I, the U.S. experienced its first taste of prohibition due to concerns about grain shortages and rising anti-German sentiment, which led to the Wartime Prohibition Act of 1918. Although intended to be temporary, it was seen as a notable victory by those advocating for a long-term ban.

Historian Michael A. Lerner, who authored “Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City,” shared with YSL News that the temperance movement stemmed not only from moral high ground but also from anti-immigrant and racially charged feelings during the wave of immigration in the early 20th century.

“Prohibition wasn’t solely about alcohol; it was about determining what it meant to be American,” he noted.

Alcohol use was prevalent among Irish, Italian, Catholic, and Jewish communities, Lerner explained. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants exploited negative stereotypes about immigrants and alcohol to restrict their access to these beverages and ostracize them from society.

“This was a scapegoating of immigrants—testing who was accepted and who was not, masking anti-immigrant sentiment with claims of wanting to solve the ‘social problem’ of excessive drinking and cultural clashes,” Lerner said.

Rise of Gangsters, Bootlegging, and Speakeasies

The enforced closure of bars and taverns gave way to covert clubs and illegal liquor shops where alcohol was plentiful. According to the New York Historical Museum, hundreds of thousands of speakeasies thrived during this time.

“I doubt many wanted Prohibition enforced equally,” Lerner remarked. “Everyone had their way of getting alcohol.”

Banning these desired drinks opened up a highly profitable market for illegal alcohol, leading to the emergence of exclusive bars, many run by gangsters like Al Capone. The Mob Museum in Las Vegas reports that Capone earned over $1.3 billion in today’s currency through his illicit dealings while bribing law enforcement to look the other way.

Tainted alcohol was responsible for numerous deaths, some caused by the U.S. government mandating toxic additives to the substances used in bootlegging.

Could Prohibition Return? 

After years of witnessing the repercussions from the “Noble Experiment” and enduring the challenges of the Great Depression, public support for Prohibition waned.

In June 1932, influential financier and lifelong non-drinker John D. Rockefeller, Jr., known for his Anti-Saloon League support, publicly reversed his stance on Prohibition in a letter to The New York Times.

“Initially, I believed Prohibition would gain broad public support and that its negative impacts would soon be recognized. I’ve come to realize that this hasn’t happened,” he wrote.

He added, “Instead, alcohol consumption has generally increased; speakeasies have replaced saloons; a large number of lawbreakers have emerged; many law-abiding citizens have openly disregarded Prohibition; respect for the law has diminished significantly, and crime rates have skyrocketed.”

President Franklin Roosevelt ran on a platform to repeal Prohibition and achieved a decisive victory over incumbent Herbert Hoover.

On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified, nullifying the 18th Amendment and granting states the authority to regulate alcohol again.

More than a century after Prohibition began, and nearly a century after its repeal, the topic of alcohol consumption remains contentious in the U.S. Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General suggested that alcoholic beverages should carry cancer warning labels, citing growing evidence linking alcohol consumption to increased cancer risk.

Though a majority of Americans still consume alcohol, a 2023 Gallup survey indicates a shift among younger adults.

Almost 70% of individuals aged 18 to 24 prefer marijuana over alcohol, as noted by cannabis research company New Frontier Data. Furthermore, a rising movement advocating for sobriety could signal a change in drinking culture.

Given the concerns about alcohol’s negative impacts and its declining usage, could we see a second Prohibition? Lerner is doubtful.

Today, alcohol regulation primarily falls to the states, dictating sale hours, permissible alcohol percentages, and the rules concerning sales, including whether sales can happen privately or require state oversight and whether minors can drink when accompanied by parents.

“Our relationship with alcohol is always evolving,” he stated. In spite of the traditional American reluctance to accept government intervention, “reasonable regulation is generally accepted by Americans, although they tend to be wary when it goes too far.”