Prohibition in the United States

===Enforcement===
[[File:defender18thkkk.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|The Defender Of The 18th Amendment, from ''[[Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty]]'' published by the [[Pillar of Fire Church]]]]
Once Prohibition came into effect, the majority of U.S. citizens obeyed it.<ref name="Blocker2006"/>

Some states like Maryland and New York refused Prohibition.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lantzer|first=Jason S.|title="Prohibition is Here to Stay": The Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and the Dry Crusade in America|publisher=University of Notre Dame Press|year=1994|isbn=0-268-03383-8|location=Indiana, Pa}}</ref> Enforcement of the law under the Eighteenth Amendment lacked a centralized authority. Clergymen were sometimes called upon to form vigilante groups to assist in the enforcement of Prohibition.<ref>-------. "Roper Asks Clergy to Aid in Work of Dry Enforcement," The Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), p. 1, Image 1, col. 1, January 17, 1920</ref> Furthermore, American geography contributed to the difficulties in enforcing Prohibition. The varied terrain of valleys, mountains, lakes, and swamps, as well as the extensive seaways, ports, and borders which the United States shared with [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]] made it exceedingly difficult for Prohibition agents to stop bootleggers given their lack of resources. Ultimately it was recognized with its repeal that the means by which the law was to be enforced were not pragmatic, and in many cases, the legislature did not match the general public opinion.<ref>''Report on the Enforcement of the Prohibition Laws of the United States''. National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement. Dated January 7, 1931 [http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/wick/wick3.html "III. Bad Features of the Present Situation and Difficulties in the Way of Enforcement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412193115/https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/wick/wick3.html |date=April 12, 2021 }}</ref>

In [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]], Illinois, (a suburb of Chicago) the prevalence of ethnic communities who had wet sympathies allowed prominent gang leader [[Al Capone]] to operate despite the presence of police.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and The Rise of the American State|last=McGirr|first=Lisa|publisher=New York: W.W. Norton & Company|year=2016|isbn=978-0-393-06695-1|location=New York|page=6|quote=Criminal gangs controlled the large working-class enclave of Cicero just west of Chicago proper as well; it was soon dubbed "Caponetown." Surrounded by factories, the enclave served as the base for the gangster's operation. Capone operated uninhibited by police, his illegal empire smoothed by his political connections, violence and wet sentiments of many of Chicago's ethnic political leaders.}}</ref>

The [[Ku Klux Klan]] talked a great deal about denouncing bootleggers and threatened private vigilante action against known offenders. Despite its large membership in the mid-1920s, it was poorly organized and seldom had an impact. Indeed, the KKK after 1925 helped disparage any enforcement of Prohibition.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Thomas R. |last=Pegram |title=Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement |journal=Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era |year=2008 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=89–119 |doi=10.1017/S1537781400001742 |s2cid=154353466 }}</ref>

Prohibition was a major blow to the alcoholic beverage industry and its repeal was a step toward the amelioration of one sector of the economy. An example of this is the case of [[St. Louis]], one of the most important alcohol producers before prohibition started, which was ready to resume its position in the industry as soon as possible. Its major brewery had "50,000 barrels" of beer ready for distribution from March 22, 1933, and was the first alcohol producer to resupply the market; others soon followed. After repeal, stores obtained liquor licenses and restocked for business. After beer production resumed, thousands of workers found jobs in the industry again.<ref>{{cite journal | title =50,000 barrels ready in St Louis | journal =New York Times | date=March 23, 1933 }}</ref>

Prohibition created a [[black market]] that competed with the formal economy, which came under pressure when the Great Depression struck in 1929. [[State governments of the United States|State governments]] urgently needed the tax revenue alcohol sales had generated. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 based in part on his promise to end prohibition, which influenced his support for ratifying the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment]] to repeal Prohibition.<ref>Dwight B Heath,  "Prohibition, Repeal, and Historical Cycles," Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}}</ref>