XXI Amendment

Amendment XXI

Text of the Amendment: The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. The transportation or importation into any state, territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.

Plain English: The prohibition of alcohol law, 18th amendment, has been repealed but will be regulated. States can pass and determine alcohol laws for their own state. Transportation and importation of alcohol against these regulations will be illegal.

Story of its passage and ratification: Congress first proposed the 21st amendment on February 20, 1933. This is the only amendment so far that repeals a previous amendment, the 18th amendment. The 22nd amendment is also the only amendment to be ratified through the method of the state ratifying convention. It repealed the amendment that dealt with the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. That amendment was passed after years of argument and campaigning by a temperance movement that spread across the nation during the early 1900s. Prohibition was supposed to be a good thing in the United States. It was supposed to stop alcohol consumption that would cause crime, broken families, and poor health. Instead, prohibition caused a rise in organized crime, illegal trade of alcohol, and illegal bars and clubs called speakeasies. This 13 year period showed that prohibition was a failed attempt and by 1933, it was unpopular with the majority of the United States. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified by Congress. This amendment was ratified by state conventions instead of state legislators because those legislators would have voted pro-prohibition due to their previous views on the issue. Prohibition cost the United States government millions of dollars in law enforcement and loss tax revenue from the the sale of alcohol.

Effect of the Amendment on the U.S.: The early changes that this amendment caused were mainly positive on the U.S. such as, weakening organized crime groups, giving adults personal freedom to drink, and gave the country an economic boom with the new tax on alcohol. Alcohol is sold differently depending on the state. Some states allow grocery stores to sell both beers and spirits while others only allow beers because the high alcohol level drinks are sold by state owned stores. Other than that, the U.S. 21st amendment’s ban on prohibition is widely connected with the legalization of marijuana. People see some of the similarities between banning alcohol back then and banning marijuana now. If marijuana became legal and regulated like alcohol, there could be a reduce in crime and another income growth to the country. The federal government was strong against marijuana however, the times continue to change and alcohol sales is now state regulated so even the decision on marijuana can be made by a state law.

Effect of the Amendment on us: For us the amendment doesn’t really do much other than the fact that one of the regulations changed the age requirement to purchase alcohol to 21 in the U.S. It has given us the option to drink when we are of legal age and depending on the state we would have to either go to a grocery store or state owned alcohol store to purchase beer or spirits.