The Lever Act (Lever Food and Fuel Act) was passed by Congress several months after the U.S. entered WW I in 1917. I. The Lever Act Its official name indicates its goal. It was “An Act to Provide Further for the National Security and Defense by Encouraging the Production, Conserving the Supply, and Controlling the …
The federal government is spending taxpayer money in a political campaign to defend the minimum drinking age. “Responses to Arguments against the Minimum Legal Drinking Age” is by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). In it, the the federal government identifies arguments against the minimum legal drinking age. It then suggests counter …
Allied Forces The Allied Forces for Prohibi tion was an organization of 29 temperance groups. The groups united in 1928.(1) They did so in the face of increasing calls for the modification or repeal of National Prohibition. By 1932, the Allied Forces claimed to have 1,000,000 adherents.”(2) Rev. Daniel A. Poling headed it. When the …
Local option in Kentucky permits voters to choose wet or dry for their areas. That is, they can vote on whether or not to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages locally. The cities of Barbourville and London both recently voted to permit alcohol sales. But two counties, Butler and Graves, chose to remain under prohibition. …
In 1846, Maine passed the first state-wide law in the U.S. prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Only alcohol made for industrial or medicinal use could legally be sold. But it was not the famous Maine Law. I. Maine Law In 1851, the Maine Law went into effect. It was officially titled ‘An Act for …
A bootlegger in Congress? During National Prohibition (1920-1933) it was illegal to transport or sell alcoholic beverages. Most members of Congress publicly supported Prohibition and its enforcement. They included both Democrats and Republicans. They came from across the country. From East, West, North and South. They came from both rural areas and cities. But most …
Smith Wildman Brookhart (1869-1944) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1926. He was known there as a ‘fervent dry.’ The problems caused by Prohibition (1920-1933) increased. So did calls for its repeal. Sen. Brookhardt desperately wanted to stop this growing movement. So he began a nation-wide tour debating prominent ‘wets.’ They included prominent opponents …
The U.S. passed the Cullen-Harrison Act before it repealed National Prohibition of alcohol. People widely thought that ratifying the proposed 21st Amendment to repeal National Prohibition might take years. I. Support for Cullen-Harrison Yet there was strong support to legalize beverages with a low alcoholic content. There were several main reason for this. First When …
President Herbert Hoover established the Wikersham Commission in May of 1929. He appointed former U.S. Attorney General George W. Wickersham to head the Commission. It was officially the U.S. National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement. But people called it the Wickersham Commission. I. Purpose of the Commission President Hoover formed the Commission pursuant to …
Andrew Volstead is best remembered as the author of the Volstead Act. It is officially the National Prohibition Act of 1919. The Volstead Act was very important. It enabled enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment. (That’s the “Prohibition Amendment.”) I. Volstead-Wheeler Dispute However, it appears that the author of the bill was largely Wayne Wheeler. He …
