New York was the 1st state to possess any such laws passed in 1697. This law simply stated that all bars and drinking establishments must close on Sunday. Sunday for most religions is meant to be considered a day of rest and prayer and not drinking. In Georgia in the year 1735, the government passed its First state wide ban on alcohol. The ban lasted only 7 years and was a total failure.
In 1851, they attempted once again to instill a prohibition on alcohol in Maine, and this time it worked even better than they had expected. By 1855, twelve other states joined Maine in becoming what is known as a "dry state."
Following the Civil War in 1880, women joined the "dries". It wasn't long before the temperance movement had become a force to be reckoned with. The conservative Woman's Christian Temperance Union, WCTU, was created and the Prohibition Party began gaining momentum.
By 1900, more than 50% of the continental U . S . was dry. Prohibitionists thought they had the alcohol ban locked up and there was not any way possible for any person to obtain alcohol in a dry state. Unfortunately for the dries, the US Postal Service unintentionally furnished a loophole. Because the USPS was governed by the US government not the state government, spirits could be mail ordered and shipped from a wet state. This maddened the dries. In 1913, an Interstate Liquor Act was approved. This act effectively made it illegal for any person to send liquor to any dry state by any means. The end results was actually a step backwards for those trying to keep liquor out as it gave rise to illegal strategies of acquiring the alcohol since liquor distilleries were now in league with organized crime.
In 1917, the 18th amendment was drafted making it illegal to purchase, mail or make liquor. This did not sit well for lots of states. The amendment was disputed in congress for an additional Two years. In 1920 Thirty-three states had declared themselves dry which meant a huge victory for the prohibition party.
January 29, 1919. The 18th Amendment was ratified making all hard alcohol having an ethanol content over 80 proof (40%) be forbidden. Legally, it banned the production, selling, or transporting of such alcoholic drinks. This was supported by many people because they thought that only hard liquor was to be banned and that it would be fine to enjoy a glass of wine with food or drink a beer in the evening. Nevertheless, it wasn't until a year later, the Volstead Act (prohibition act) was passed. The Volstead Act completely banned all alcohol that had greater than 1 proof (1/2%) of alcohol. This effectively banned all forms of alcoholic beverages, aside from non-alcoholic beers. When the 18th amendment was ratified, the Volstead Act was brought into the light by Prohibition supporters. For almost all of the prohibition supporters who only wanted a little wine or the occasional beer felt as though that they had been betrayed because they wound up with nothing when the act was passed.
One group that no one thought of were the veterans of World War 1. These soldiers felt very betrayed returning home from battling in the war. Many of them had been stationed in France and came to know how a moderate quantity of alcohol could add to the quality of life. Coming home and learning that the dries had won a complete victory over alcohol added to the bitterness of the veterans disdain. The fatal miscalculation with prohibition was to ban all forms of alcohol. Eighty percent of the Prohibition Party followers abandoned the party. Prohibition survived for 13 years in the United states until in 1933 the 21st amendment was passed to officially end the ban on alcohol.
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