What is Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution?
{{US Constitution article series}} [[Ratification|Ratified]] on January 17, 1919 and went into effect a year later, the '''Eighteenth Amendment''' ('''Amendment XVIII''') of the [[United States Constitution]] [[wikt:ban|ban]]ned the making, [[transport]]ing, and [[sale]] of [[alcoholic beverage]]s in the [[United States]].<ref name=NArchives>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html |title=The Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11-27 |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=12 March 2016}}</ref> The [[Volstead Act]] was passed by [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] to [[wikt:enforce|enforce]] the Eighteenth Amendment. It did not prohibit the [[drink]]ing of alcohol however. It started the period in American [[history]] called the [[Prohibition Era]]. This was a period of mass [[civil disobedience]] to the law. Those who could afford the higher prices of [[Smuggling|smuggled]] [[liquor]] went to [[illegal]] [[bar (business)|bar]]s called [[Speakeasy|speakeasies]].<ref name=AndersonGLI>{{cite web |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/roaring-twenties/essays/prohibition |title=Prohibition and Its Effects |author=Lisa Andersen |publisher=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |access-date=12 March 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195052/http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/roaring-twenties/essays/prohibition |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Working class]] people tended to drink [[moonshine]] and so-called [[bathtub gin]] at home.<ref name=AndersonGLI/> The Eighteenth Amendment proved to be a major [[failure]].<ref name=18AmLAW.com>{{cite web |url=http://kids.laws.com/18th-amendment |title=18th Amendment |publisher=Law.com |access-date=12 March 2016}}</ref> Americans started drinking more than before and it caused crime to rise significantly. The Eighteenth Amendment was later repealed by the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment