On 17 January 1920, America officially “dried up”. It wasn’t a shortage of water or a prolonged drought, but a law banning the sale, transport, and commercial production of alcohol.
The United States was not the only country in the world to take such action in the early 20th century. Russia, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Hungary, and the Faroe Islands all had similar laws around the same time. In many countries around the world, even if they did not pass legislation banning alcohol, there were currents of opinion in favour of the idea.
Today, all that remains in the collective memory is that the law did no good—on the contrary, it encouraged the black market in alcohol, increased the number of murders and created a huge hole in the national budget. But there are also those who see the (empty!) glass as half full—the number of admissions to infectious disease hospitals for de-alcoholisation dropped, the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver in men dropped, and the overall percentage of people consuming spirits fell from 50% at the beginning of the period to 30%. Alongside these benefits, it is arguably true that there was a general upward trend in crime at the beginning of the 20th century, and that the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 did not significantly reduce the rate of crime and lawlessness.
Whether we are talking about Russia or Norway, Hungary or the Faroe Islands, each prohibition law has its own story. But I want to look at prohibition in the United States, where it was most widespread, where it had its greatest impact, and where we can best gain impressions and realities about the world then and now.
A dream almost 100 years old
On 13 February 1826, the American Temperance Society was founded with the stated aim of reducing alcohol consumption in the American states. The Society’s leader was Lyman Beecher, a well-known Presbyterian minister from what historians call the “Second Great Awakening”. Lyman was not only a theologian and a gifted orator, but also a fervent campaigner for social justice and the abolition of slavery, a legacy inherited by his children. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stove, wrote one of the most beautiful anti-slavery life stories: Uncle Tom’s Cabin. As a seminary director, Lyman trained generations of pastors who travelled the United States preaching the message of abstinence from alcohol and the abolition of slavery.
The impact of the American Temperance Society was so great that within five years more than 2,200 new temperance societies had been formed and more than 170,000 men had pledged to give up alcohol. By 1835 it is estimated that the membership of temperance societies exceeded one million. Gradually, however, they began to emphasise not only individual abstinence, but also national legislation banning the sale and commercial production of alcohol. The fact that most members of these temperance societies were also abolitionists meant that they were more successful in the northern states than in the south.
In November 1874, the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was formed, and under the slogan “For God and Home and Country” (later “For Every Country”), it joined forces with the American Temperance Society to try to stop the growth of alcohol consumption and save American families from a great deal of misery. It was estimated that by the end of the 19th century Americans were spending nearly a billion dollars a year on alcoholic beverages, $900 million on meat, and about $200 million on education. When Frances Willard became president of the organisation in 1879, she began to add to the list of important issues not only the fight against alcohol, tobacco, and other costly vices, but also issues such as equality before the law, equal voting rights, protection from abuse, and so on. By 1896, 25 of the organisation’s 39 departments were dealing with issues not directly related to temperance.[1]
In addition to these two major organisations, Christian denominations were almost unanimous in their support for this reform project, which had originally emerged in the wake of the religious revival movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The New World had never seen such a religious awakening, and radical decisions on the side of what was considered good and right were commonplace. Moreover, the proclamation of the approach of the messianic millennium led many to take seriously their preparations for this long-awaited event. This prospect brought together under the banner of prohibition religious denominations that today are not so categorical about alcohol.
They did their homework
To persuade American society of the rightness of their message, the prohibitionists relied on several very powerful lines of argument. To get an idea of the scale of the phenomenon, it is worth recalling that in 1851 the American Temperance Society distributed nearly five million pamphlets with arguments against drinking alcohol.[2] Some scholars divide these arguments into two categories—some that addressed the logical side and some that addressed the emotional side; others add religious arguments to these.
The scientific arguments were many and varied. There were studies, statistics, data, expert opinions, all designed to convince the reader that the problem was quite serious. In addition, the authors presented the subject of abstinence as a means of increasing efficiency and achieving the desired success in any line of work. The publications were aimed at all social groups, offering everyone a new perspective on life and work in an accessible and enthusiastic language. It was clear to all who read them that alcohol was poisonous and harmful, an obvious obstacle to one’s own development and happiness.
Another category of publications were of a religious nature. The subject of alcohol was presented from the point of view of biblical morality, and the explicit biblical commands against its abuse were presented in a direct and eloquent manner. It is curious, however, why religious communities, with the exception of the Seventh-day Adventists, did not continue this campaign after the excitement of the moment had passed, and why they are not today as resolute in their determination to object to alcohol consumption.
The third category of arguments were those that appealed to the emotions. Children begged their parents to give up alcohol, to come home and enjoy the warmth of the home together. The imagery was powerful, and simple messages on posters or pamphlets touched the hearts of many parents. But this kind of discourse was not just an exercise in rhetoric. The problem of alcohol in American society was real, and perhaps that is why the impact was so great. The prohibitionists cannot be suspected of having any economic or financial interests, and their sincerity in supporting the cause only proves its necessity.
What they gained and what they lost
All this impressive campaigning against alcohol made Maine the first US state to ban the sale of alcohol in 1846. In the years that followed, other states followed suit, so that by 1855 there were already 13 states that had banned alcohol, and by 1919, when the law was passed on a federal level, it was in effect in 33 states, covering 63% of the US population.
The law banning the sale and commercial production of alcohol nationwide was touted as the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and was sent to the states for ratification in December 1917. By January 1919, the document had been ratified by a majority of the states, leading to its passage. Later that year it was sent to President Woodrow Wilson for ratification, but the provisions of the Act began to be implemented on 17 January 1920. While it did not prohibit the production and consumption of alcohol for domestic purposes, there were some states where the rules were stricter and the possession of alcoholic beverages for any reason was criminalised.
It is clear that such a law drove the entire alcohol business into the underground economy, gave an economic boost to distilleries in Canada and Mexico, and gave a huge boost to mafia groups who saw the protection of alcohol sellers as a source of get-rich-quick schemes. The state did not have the resources to enforce the law on everyone, so it was often the middle class or the poorest who were heavily controlled by the authorities, while their bosses were allowed to drink in peace. Many doctors began to prescribe large doses of alcohol to their patients, and the rudimentary means of producing it often led to intoxication and even death.
All this led more and more politicians to talk of a return to the old legal standards of alcohol consumption. Perhaps the strongest argument that something needed to be done was the economic impact. The economic crisis of the 1930s further emphasised the need for new sources of income. When President Roosevelt called for the repeal of the 1919 Act on 22 March 1933, just days after his election, most states agreed. Thus, on 22 December 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the first amendment to repeal an earlier one, returning the country to the status quo prior to January 1920. However, many states continued to maintain very restrictive alcohol laws.
However, what was accomplished through the struggle of temperance societies is no small achievement. The abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the elimination of long-tolerated inequalities, the emphasis on the family and its welfare, the extraordinary mobilisation of the whole of society in a common cause—these are all achievements whose effects are still being felt. It was the first time that most religious denominations fought together for a common social cause. Unfortunately, the appeal to civil power compromised the effort and changed its meaning. It became clear that the imposition of laudable ideals as the norm for the whole of society made them ridiculous and ultimately rejected.
It is possible that the decline in alcohol consumption that some have attributed to Prohibition is in fact not the effect of the law—which people learned to circumvent—but of the extensive campaigns that preceded it, of a current of social and spiritual revival that began with the era of the great religious revivals.
Although governments will be tempted in the future to impose moral practices through legislation, the history of prohibition should teach us that they should leave it to the people—that it must come from the bottom up, become a popular movement, stir hearts, and change destinies—all without the use of coercion.