Beer in the United States
On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was enacted into law, creating the Prohibition era, wherein the production, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages was made illegal. All legal American brewing came to a halt when prohibition was imposed, though the earlier temperance movement had already reduced the number of breweries significantly. Only a few breweries, mainly the largest, were able to stay in business by manufacturing near beer, malt syrup, or other non-alcohol grain products, in addition to soft drinks such as colas and root beers. Production and shipping of alcohol was largely confined to illegal operations that could deliver compact distilled beverages—smuggled rum and domestic moonshine—more efficiently and reliably than bulkier products such as beer.
History of the National Crime Syndicate
United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933, repealing Prohibition. The manufacture, sale and possession of alcoholic beverages was no longer illegal and the underworld reorganized their operations to make up for the loss of profits. For years prior to the end of Prohibition, some of the most influential crime leaders from across the United States looked to organization among the gangs as the future of crime in America, leading some crime historians to believe that organized crime truly began to establish itself at a boardwalk meeting in Atlantic City, 1929.