The Fourteenth Amendment And The Prohibition Of Intoxicating Liquors Within The United States

Review Questions for Mid-Term 1) What constitutional clause allows laws enacted by the federal government to take priority over conflicting state laws?

“For those Americans who did not want to go to the effort of making their own liquor, an army of bootleggers, moonshiners, and rumrunners was available to supply the nation with all the booze its citizens could drink” (Hanson). Americans could just buy alcohol from bootleggers, moonshiners, and rumrunners if they did not want to make it themselves because they could find an alcohol seller anywhere. “The Eighteenth Amendment was intended to reduce drinking by abolishing the businesses that made and sold alcohol: breweries, distillers, winemakers, wholesale sellers, and retail establishments such as saloons” (Hanson). The Eighteenth Amendment was made to stop alcohol from getting on the streets but it did no use so they got rid of the Eighteenth Amendment. The temperance movement and the prohibition on alcohol helped stop most of the drinking in the United States of America.

Article VI, Clause 2 (National Supremacy Clause) – The Federal Government, in expressing any of the powers

In 1920, The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits the manufacture, sales, and transportation of the alcohol was passed and continued until 1933.

Article I Section 8 Clause 18 states that Congress has the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof”. An example of the use of this clause is Congress legislating punishment for not paying taxes. Article I gives Congress the right to tax and this example shows Congress protecting that right which is the purpose of the necessary

After all a war had just ended and the new country was in debt. This article also established the idea of National Supremacy, where the Constitution, Federal Law, Supreme Court decisions, and any treaties entered into by the Government would be the supreme law of the land and that no state law could contradict it. The supremacy clause has been a factor even recently in the Supreme Court decision that same sex marriage was legal in all states regardless of what the state’s constitution said. The last part of Article Six was the oath of office, where all politician whether in the federal or state governments would be required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution before taking

The Necessary and Proper Clause and its role in modern federal law, along with the questions that come from applying the clause.

11. Which clause states that the Constitution, and federal statutes and treaties, shall be the supreme law of the land.

The Eighteenth Amendment made alcohol illegal. However, this amendment was not being forced. So congress put out a law, called the Volstead Act, to allow law enforcement to use force to enforce the eighteenth amendment.

3b. Which amendment states that the powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states?

January 1920, the opening year of the 18th Amendment that sought banning “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” within the United States and its US territories. Many Americans relate this era with speakeasy, public law breaking, and a public disregard for the establishment of prohibition. The 18th Amendment was the first constitutional amendment that sought to limit the rights of citizens and their rights to drink. This would become an attempt that many would soon come to realize as one of the greatest failures in law enforcement in American History. For if an American wants to drink, those with the American spirit for rebellion will surly offer him one.

In the same year, the Congress submitted the 18th Amendment. This had banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors, for state ratification. Even though the Congress had stipulated a seven-year time limit for the process. The amendment had received support of the necessary three-quarters of US states in only eleven months.

The United States congress and senate was compelled to create and pass the eighteenth amendment in 1917 and ratify it in 1919. After the ratification of the eighteenth amendment the production, sales, and transport of the intoxicating liquids became illegal on the federal level apart from a few applications such as pharmaceutically prescribed alcohol and religious ceremonies. The Volstead act is what allowed federal authorities to ensure the enforcement of prohibition was followed on the national level by conducting searches and seizures if necessary . Unfortunately for the Volstead act had little to no impact on preventing the circulation and consumption of alcohol due to bootleggers taking advantage of the system. Even though the laws that prohibited the circulation of alcohol were enforced on a federal level and had the support of many politicians and American citizens the main goal was to obtain a safe and reasonable method in which America could avoid another conflict. President Wilson’s Fourteen points was a prime example that sought to prevent involvement in another war and to unite the

This can be shown and ultimately fueled by Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution which says:

The Volstead Act was the prohibition act and was passed on July 22, 1919. Even though many people disagreed with the Volstead Act, it was still passed. It was passed because Americans started to be concerned about the effects of drinking alcohol. For example, “Would stop husbands from spending all the family income on alcohol and prevent accidents in the workplace caused by workers who drank during lunch” (Rosenberg, 2017). This was one of the main reasons why the Volstead Act was passed, women hoped that their husbands would stop spending all their money on alcohol instead of spending it on something important like their family. Also, they were many accidents in factories because men would drink during their break, so they weren’t sober and that caused many accidents. Another reason was because when men were drunk sometimes they would hit their wives and children. Many people were against the Volstead Act, however many people were in favor of the Volstead Act, especially women. For instance, “Women played a strong role in the temperance movement, as alcohol was seen as a destructive force in families and marriages” (history.com). This explains that the main reason for women to be against alcohol was that they saw as if it was the main reason that their