On January 16, 1919, the United States ratified the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. With a single vote-counted decision, the nation committed itself to an unprecedented social experiment, one that would reshape law enforcement, culture, and daily life for more than a decade.

Supporters believed Prohibition would reduce crime, poverty, and domestic violence. Instead, it created a shadow economy. Speakeasies multiplied, organized crime flourished, and ordinary citizens learned new vocabularies—bootleggers, rum-runners, and bathtub gin. The law existed on paper, but enforcement fractured along local lines.

By the early 1930s, the experiment was widely viewed as a failure. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, making the 18th the only constitutional amendment ever fully undone. The episode remains a reminder that changing behavior by decree is harder than changing the law itself.

Thanks for reading,

The TTC Team

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