Today in History

December 5, 1933

The End of Prohibition

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed in 1919, over the veto of President Woodrow Wilson. Under pressure from religious and other temperance groups, the manufacture and consumption of alcoholic beverages became illegal. Almost immediately, millions of Americans became criminals.

Distilleries and breweries in the neighboring countries of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished and organized crime grew stronger with the illegal trade and the violence that is an inevitable consequence of criminal enterprise.

Prohibition became increasingly unpopular during the Great Depression and The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933.

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