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National Prohibition Act

National Prohibition Act
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles War Prohibition Act
Long title An Act to prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes, and to ensure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye, and other lawful industries
Acronyms (colloquial) NPA
Nicknames Volstead Act
Enacted by the 66th United States Congress
Effective October 28, 1919 and January 16, 1920
Citations
Public law 66-66
Statutes at Large 41 Stat. 305–323, ch. 83
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 6810 by Andrew Volstead (RMN) on June 27, 1919
  • Committee consideration by House Judiciary Committee
  • Passed the House on July 22, 1919 (295-105, 3 Present)
  • Passed the Senate with amendment on September 5, 1919 (Voice vote)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on October 6, 1919; agreed to by the Senate on October 8, 1919 (Voice vote) and by the House on October 10, 1919 (230-69, 1 Present)
  • Vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson on October 27, 1919
  • Overridden by the House on October 27, 1919 (210-73, 3 Present)
  • Overridden by the Senate and became law on October 28, 1919 (69-20)
United States Supreme Court cases
Jacob Ruppert v. Caffey, 251 U.S. 264 (1920)

The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was enacted to carry out the intent of the Eighteenth Amendment, which established prohibition in the United States. The Anti-Saloon League's Wayne Wheeler conceived and drafted the bill, which was named for Andrew Volstead, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who managed the legislation.

While the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors", it did not define "intoxicating liquors" or provide penalties. It granted both the federal government and the states the power to enforce the ban by "appropriate legislation." A bill to do so was introduced in Congress in 1919. Later this act was voided by the Twenty-first amendment.

The bill was vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson, largely on technical grounds because it also covered wartime prohibition, but his veto was overridden by the House on the same day, October 27, 1919, and by the Senate one day later. The three distinct purposes of the Act were:

It provided further that "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, or furnish any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act." It did not specifically prohibit the use of intoxicating liquors. The act defined intoxicating liquor as any beverage containing more than 0.5% alcohol by volume and superseded all existing prohibition laws in effect in states that had such legislation.

The production, importation, and distribution of alcoholic beverages — once the province of legitimate business — were taken over by criminal gangs, which fought each other for market control in violent confrontations, including murder. Major gangsters, such as Omaha's Tom Dennison and Chicago's Al Capone, became rich and were admired locally and nationally. Enforcement was difficult because the gangs became so rich they were often able to bribe underpaid and understaffed law enforcement personnel and pay for expensive lawyers. Many citizens were sympathetic to bootleggers, and respectable citizens were lured by the romance of illegal speakeasies, also called "blind tigers". The loosening of social morals during the 1920s included popularizing the cocktail and the cocktail party among higher socio-economic groups. Those inclined to help authorities were often intimidated, even murdered. In several major cities — notably those that served as major points of liquor importation (including Chicago and Detroit) — gangs wielded significant political power. A Michigan State Police raid on Detroit's Deutsches Haus once netted the mayor, the sheriff, and the local congressman.


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