Amendment1920
18th Amendment Takes Effect
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution took effect, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. The amendment had been ratified the previous year after decades of campaigning by the temperance movement.
Why It Matters
Prohibition demonstrated both the power of grassroots movements to amend the Constitution and the limits of using constitutional amendments to regulate personal behavior. It was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.