What Was the 21st Amendment?
The 21st Amendment to the Constitution reversed the 18th Amendment, which had made alcoholic beverages illegal. The 21st Amendment was unique in that it remains the only amendment ratified by the convention method rather than the state legislatures. Besides being the only amendment to repeal another amendment, it also granted the states the right to govern alcohol laws individually.
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The 18th Amendment
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On the January 20, 1920 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect. This amendment made the manufacture, distribution or sale alcoholic beverages within the United States and its territories illegal. No alcohol was allowed to be exported out of the United States, nor was any alcohol allowed to be imported into the United States.
Why the 18th Amendment?
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The 18th Amendment was the result of a decade-long movement known as the temperance crusade. The members were businessmen, church groups, feminists, and social and political reformers who all believed in a dry society. They begin to demand a permanent national solution to the problem of alcohol consumption.
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The Effects of the 18th Amendment
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Even with a one-year delay to lesson the effects on the liquor industry, the 18th amendment was largely unpopular. It spawned disobedience and organized crime, which overshadowed the more "honorable" motives. Additionally, the 18th Amendment was seen as a slap in the face to new immigrants and their cultures.
Ratifying the 21st Amendment
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After the 21st Amendment was proposed, it had to first pass by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. The proposed amendment was then sent to the states. There are two ways in which the states can ratify a proposed amendment: by vote of the state legislature (the amendment is adopted if approved by at least three-fourths of states) or by a state ratifying convention. The 21st Amendment remains the only amendment to utilize the convention method.
Why the convention method?
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Advocates of the 21st Amendment reasoned that the legislative method of ratification would prove ineffectual due to the temperance lobby that helped pass Prohibition via the 18th Amendment. It was believed state legislators were fearful of this movement or that some member of the state legislature may even have backed the movement. The convention method, therefore, was deemed more objective.
Ratifying the 21st amendment
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The convention method resulted in the required three-fourths of the states' ratifying the 21st Amendment. On December 5, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the proclamation which officially put an end to Prohibition. The new amendment allowed for the sale and consumption of alcohol to again be legal, set standards for the amount of liquor in beer and wine and allowed individual states to determine their own laws regarding alcohol.
Impact of the 21st Amendment
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The 21st Amendment is the first amendment used to nullify another amendment. Along with the 18th Amendment, the 21st Amendment greatly changed the way the United States manufactured and sold alcohol. Alcohol consumption would forever be regulated state by state. It allows for a "checks and balances" system to legally and wisely distribute alcohol.
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