Flappers, parties, fancy cars, credit cards, all bits and pieces of the roaring twenties. Seen as a golden age in American history, the roaring twenties was a great peak in American economics, civilization, and cultural development. The temperance movement began in the 1800's and along with the wartime shortage of grain; it financially convinced Congress to take action (The Twentieth Century 25). Just one year before the 1920's uproar, the Eighteenth Amendment, also known as the Volstead Act or Prohibition, was added to the Constitution. The Volstead Act banned the manufacture, sale, distribution, and consumption of any beverages containing 0.5% of alcohol or more, ruling out virtually all alcoholic drinks. This controversial guideline caused quite a conundrum among people all over the United States. However, Americans did what humans do under times of alteration; they took matters into their own hands (Jack S. Jr. 5).
Well, how did the idea of temperance arise in the first place? The Eighteenth Amendment was adopted into the Constitution based upon my different circumstances. America was not alone in the intention of adopting permanent Prohibition. Other jurisdictions ratifying comparable clauses include: Iceland, Finland, Norway, Czarist Russia and the Soviet Union, Canadian provinces, and Canada's federal government (Jack S. Jr. 1). Monkey see, monkey do.
Herbert Hoover was president of the United States from March fourth, 1994 to March fourth, 1993. He called Prohibition "a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive. Hoover's statement infers that he is supportive of the policy, but views it as a temporary act. But history in and out, just because the President of the United States supports a cause, does not mean the nation will follow through (The Twentieth Century 24).
In times of war, unusual circumstances take place that would not normally be part of the regular equation.
