Prohibition and Temperance Movement in the US - Essay Example

For many years, alcohol consumption in the United States was very high in that the total cost the government incurred was more than the total expenditure of the federal government. Young people at very early ages started neglecting their families and deprived them of food and shelter. People started worrying that the United States would be known as a nation of drunkards.

Fellow drunkards started taking the initiative, and they formed a society of reformed drunkards. Clergymen argued that there was no way drunkards could help in cleansing the country. That is when the church-based organizations sprung up and joined hands with the society of reformed drunkards to help men do away with alcohol. They taught them how alcohol had done to them in terms of the poverty levels and domestic violence. The other people who were fighting to get rid of slavery out of the country joined hands. During this fight, a lot of young boys and girls swore never to touch alcohol in their lives.

The church-based organizations joined hands with another lobby group called the Anti-Saloon League (ASL). ASL was willing to join hands with any government forces to ban the manufacturing, sale and transportation of alcohol. ASL joined hands with the other state officials to implement that ban. After 13 months, the amendments were allowed. The amendment did not ban the consumption of alcohol but banned its transportation and its manufacturing (Pbs, n.d.).

The ban brought about a great depression. Lawmakers argued that the taxation of alcohol could help in increasing government revenues. Franklin Roosevelt came up with the idea of repealing the prohibition. In 1993, Congress passed the law and the president legalized the sale of light beer with low levels of intoxication. That’s when states started controlling the sale of alcohol, taking into consideration licensing, age limits and operation hours (Pbs, n.d.).