The History Behind Repeal Day Fri, Dec 02, 22 At the end of 1933, thirteen years of the government’s ban on liquor were finally over. What started as an attempt to make America a more “moral” country had failed. December 5, 1933 marks the day in which Prohibition was finally repealed. Pretext Rewind to the 1700s. Seeing excessive drunkenness running rampant within communities, the government starts fining people for excessive drunken behavior and selling liquor without a license. Many groups start urging Americans to alter their drinking habits for health and moral reasons. Jump to the 1840s, when a new movement became popular in America: the temperance movement. The Temperance movement encouraged people to reduce alcohol consumption. They even produced plays and poems showing the ill effects of drinking culture. All of this finally came together in the mid to late 1910s, as many states nationwide began implementing their own prohibition rules. Finally, on January 16, 1920, the eighteenth amendment was ratified, prohibiting “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.” Early Years of Prohibition Prohibition was popular in rural areas across the country, but those in large cities or mining towns hated the law. Individuals who did not agree with prohibition found loopholes around the laws. Innovative crooks found ways to smuggle alcohol from Canada. Those with access to boats could drink until their hearts were content three miles outside the United States’ borders. There was a huge increase in home brewing across the country as well. Prohibition’s Impact There is much debate over how effective Prohibition was. When instituting the 18th amendment people assumed the law would reduce or eliminate drunkenness, crime, poverty, and mental illness. But according to 1925 journalist H. L. Mencken, the law actually had the opposite effect: “Five years of Prohibition have had, at least, this one benign effect: they have completely disposed of all the favorite arguments of the Prohibitionists. None of the great boons and usufructs that were to follow the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment has come to pass. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic, but more. There is not less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more. The cost of government is not smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but diminished.” People simply refused to respect this law and went out of their way to oppose it. People would go to speakeasies, or underground secret bars to drink. Many of these speakeasies were run by mobsters, which meant that people were supporting mobsters rather than their neighborhood bartender or liquor store owner. The End of Prohibition Finally, on December 5, 1933, America had enough. After much lobbying by the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, led by a group including John D. Rockefeller Jr., the United States passed the 21st amendment. The Amendment allowed states to set their own laws in regards to alcohol. Many states immediately abandoned these hypocritical policies, although a few stayed on board, and there are still a few counties across the nation that prohibit the sale of alcohol. If you are interested in learning more about Repeal Day, or if you just want to learn more about alcohol, come by Julio’s Liquors in Westborough, MA. With 20,000 square feet of retail space and tons of weekly educational events and tastings, you are bound to find something that you like!
