Volstead Act

The Volstead Act, also know as the National Prohibition Act, was established to prohibit the manufacture of intoxicating beverages and also to regulate the production, transportation, use, and sale of alcoholic beverages containing more than one-half of 1% alcohol. Andrew Volstead (R-MN) was the chief sponsor of the act, which was initially ratified on January 16, 1919, but was vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson. Congress overrode him and passed the law on October 28, 1919. The Volstead Act became effective as the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on January 17, 1920.

Alcohol consumption became a social issue in the 19th century and the temperance movement was ubiquitous in the United States. People were concerned about the excessive use of alcoholic beverages causing moral delinquency through family violence, poverty, crime, disorder, and incompetence in the workplace. The call for prohibition of alcohol grew in the United States and expanded largely as a result of the coalition of temperance movements. The leading groups struggling to outlaw drinking were the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Anti-Saloon League, and the American Temperance Society. Women were particularly strong supporters of the temperance movement since alcohol was seen as a key factor in the destruction of families and marriages. The Anti-Saloon League was founded in 1893 and became an influential political advocacy group for passing national prohibition on alcohol. Between 1905 and 1917, many states across the nation passed laws that prohibited the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages. By 1914, 14 states had adopted prohibition; by 1919 the number had risen to 26. With the outbreak of World War I, the coalition of temperance movements was able to win passage of various federal prohibitory laws, the War Prohibition for instance, as part of the war effort to outlaw alcohol. Thus, the Volstead Act extended the wartime law to peacetime.

In 1917, the temperance movement activists began to move forward to ban alcohol through legislation and the House of Representatives proposed Prohibition as the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Congress sent the amendment to the states for approval, where it needed three-fourths approval. In just 13 months, 36 of 48 state legislatures had ratified the amendment that would prohibit the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.