Repeal of Prohibition

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Why It Failed
Repeal of Prohibition

 

    

By 1931, most people had realized that National Prohibition had been a mistake and were ready to repeal it.  Almost all, except for President Hoover, who actually increased government spending on Prohibition law enforcement.  Soon, the entire nation was clamoring for repeal, and not even the president could do anything to stop it.

The 1932 presidential election came and a new president was elected, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (more commonly known as FDR).  Within a month of his election, the alcohol content allowed in beer was raised to 3.2 percent.  Soon an amendment to the constitution was proposed.  It was on December 5, 1933 that Utah was the 36th state to ratify the 21st amendment and end National Prohibition.  This made the 18th amendment the only constitutional amendment to be repealed.

After that, it was the states' job to decide if a state prohibition was necessary.  Most states got rid of state prohibitions, but Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma kept their prohibition laws in place the longest.  Kansas ended  statewide prohibition in 1948, whereas Oklahoma ended theirs in 1959.  The longest state prohibition was Missouri, who ended state prohibition in 1966, almost 35 years after National Prohibition was repealed.

 

 

 

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This site was last updated 04/20/05