"The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export of alcoholic beverages. Upon ratification of the amendment by the states, Congress voted its approval in October 1919, and enacted it into law as the National Prohibition Act of 1920. Drafting of the amendment and of the bill was the work, in large part, of Wayne Wheeler, the legislative lawyer of the Anti-Saloon League. The duty to sponsor the bill before Congress fell to the chair of the Judiciary Committee, Andrew J. Volstead, U.S. Representative from the Minnesota 7th Congressional District."
- A newspaper headline tells that the 18th Amendment has been ratified. It would take effect in one year
The 18th Amendment reads:
- Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
- Section 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
- Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.
"Thirteen months after the 18th amendment was passed by Congress Nebraska became the 36th state to ratify it January 16,1919. The amendment became law January 17,1920. With great jubilation the dry forces ushered in this new era in American history called Prohibition. Celebrations were held all over the country commemorating the death of John Barleycorn. The enforcement arm of the 18th amendment was the Volstead Act which placed the authority to enforce the amendment in the lap of the Treasury Department and defined what legally constituted an alcoholic beverage. The strictness of this definition finally dispelled any notions that the brewers had of being able to avoid catastrophe. Their products were banned also."
