Argumentative Essay: The 18th Amendment

Out of the 27 amendments that have been passed and ratified, the 18th Amendment stands as the only amendment that had been repealed, or revoked. In 1918, the 18th Amendment stated that after one year, the ratification of the article would ban the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages into and out of the United States. Congress and states have concurrent power to enforce the ban (US Const. amend. XIII). The 18th Amendment was in effect from 1919 to 1933. This period became known as the Prohibition Era in which illegal alcohol consumption became increasingly popular. Unlike the government had planned, the addition of the 18th Amendment had not succeeded like they had hoped. Not only did the 18th Amendment not restore America from corruption, the 18th Amendment degraded the state of America into unpleasant conditions. By 1933, the government realized that the 18th Amendment had not accomplished anything, therefore the amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment. The 18th Amendment, as the only repealed amendment, had damaged the state of America in several other ways than solely the increase of illegal activities and crime rates. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, temperance movements started forming and pushed the need for prohibition. Prohibition is the …show more content…
This act enforced the 18th Amendment and defined what an intoxicating beverage was. An intoxicating beverage was any beverage containing above 0.5% alcohol. 0.5% of a gallon is roughly an ounce, practically containing no alcohol per serving. Federal agents were also allowed to investigate and prosecute violators of the 18th amendment. With these new laws and amendments, there was a great need for clarification surrounding anything concerning alcohol. For instance what was supposed to happen to all of the alcohol that was kept in inventories at saloons if they were not allowed to sell