Amendment XVIII in the National Archives

Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol

Amendment XVIII (the Eighteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, along with the Volstead Act (which defined "intoxicating liquors" excluding those used for religious purposes and sales throughout the U.S.), established Prohibition in the United States. Its ratification was certified on January 29, 1919. It is notable as the only amendment to the United States Constitution that has been repealed (by the Twenty-first Amendment).

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Following significant pressure on lawmakers as a result of the temperance movement, and later prohibition, the House of Representatives finally passed the amendment on December 18 1917. It was certified as ratified on January 29, 1919, having been approved by 36 states. It went into effect one year later on January 29, 1920. (Some state legislatures had already enacted statewide prohibition prior to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment.)

When Congress submitted this amendment to the states for ratification, it was the first time that a proposed amendment had a provision that placed a deadline on ratification. The validity of the amendment was challenged on that basis in Dillon v. Gloss; the Supreme Court ruled on the case in 1921, upholding the constitutionality of such deadlines.

Because of many Americans' dismay at the emergence of Prohibition, there was a considerable growth in organized crime in the United States in response to public demand for illegal alcohol. Considered a very unpopular law, the amendment was subsequently repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment on December 5 1933. It remains the only constitutional amendment to be repealed in its entirety.

Proposal and ratification

The House of Representatives initially passed the resolution^[1] calling for the Amendment on December 17, 1917.^[2] It was officially proposed by Congress when the Senate passed the resolution the next day, December 18. Ratification was completed on January 16, 1919, when thirty-six of the forty-eight states then in the Union had ratified it. On January 29, acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk certified the ratification.^[3]

The following states ratified the amendment:

1. Mississippi (January 8, 1918)
2. Virginia (January 11, 1918)
3. Kentucky (January 14, 1918)
4. North Dakota (January 25, 1918)^[4]
5. South Carolina (January 29, 1918)
6. Maryland (February 13, 1918)
7. Montana (February 19, 1918)
8. Texas (March 4, 1918)
9. Delaware (March 18, 1918)
10. South Dakota (March 20, 1918)
11. Massachusetts (April 2, 1918)
12. Arizona (May 24, 1918)
13. Georgia (June 26, 1918)
14. Louisiana (August 3, 1918)^[5]
15. Florida (November 27, 1918)
16. Michigan (January 2, 1919)
17. Ohio (January 7, 1919)
18. Oklahoma (January 7, 1919)
19. Idaho (January 8, 1919)
20. Maine (January 8, 1919)
21. West Virginia (January 9, 1919)
22. California (January 13, 1919)
23. Tennessee (January 13, 1919)
24. Washington (January 13, 1919)
25. Arkansas (January 14, 1919)
26. Kansas (January 14, 1919)
27. Illinois (January 14, 1919)
28. Indiana (January 14, 1919)
29. Alabama (January 15, 1919)
30. Colorado (January 15, 1919)
31. Iowa (January 15, 1919)
32. New Hampshire (January 15, 1919)
33. Oregon (January 15, 1919)
34. Nebraska (January 16, 1919)
35. North Carolina (January 16, 1919)
36. Utah (January 16, 1919)
37. Missouri (January 16, 1919)
38. Wyoming (January 16, 1919)
39. Minnesota (January 17, 1919)
40. Wisconsin (January 17, 1919)
41. New Mexico (January 20, 1919)
42. Nevada (January 21, 1919)
43. New York (January 29, 1919)
44. Vermont (January 29, 1919)
45. Pennsylvania (February 25, 1919)
46. New Jersey (March 9, 1922)

Rhode Island and Connecticut did not ratify the amendment, and expressly rejected it.^[6]

References

External links

• ''The Constitution Of The United States Of America Analysis And Interpretation Analysis Of Cases Decided By The Supreme Court Of The United States To June 28, 2002'', United States Senate doc. no. 108-17.
• National Archives: 18th Amendment
• CRS Annotated Constitution: 18th Amendment
• Prohibition of Alcohol in the U.S. (site funded by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States)
• Repeal of National Prohibition (site funded by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States)

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