Many people through out America thought alcohol was harmful and dangerous and welcomed the introduction of prohibition. In 1919, after the First World War, they got what they wanted. Congress (the American parliament) passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. The 18th Amendment stated...
"...after one year the manufacture, sale of, transporting of
intoxicating liquors for beverage purpose, the importing and
exporting of such liquors is hereby prohibited."
The Volstead Act, which was passed the same year, gave the federal governments the power to enforce prohibition, and then backed the 18th Amendment and from the 16th January 1920, the USA went "Dry". The people who opposed alcohol argued that it caused social problems such as violence, crime, poverty and sexual promiscuity. They believed that when it was banned, then America would be a better, healthier and a more moral place to live. There were many organisations, which led campaigns against alcohol. They included The Anti-Saloon League of America and The Women's Christian Temperance Union. Therefore, with the introduction of prohibition they had got their way. In some individual states, prohibition laws were already being