In 1917, the US Congress passed the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating beverages. The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919. But enforcing Prohibition proved to be exceedingly difficult. As one observer at the time said, """I have noticed that every attempt to legislate morals into the people has resulted in disaster." By 1933, Congress passed and the states ratified the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment and ended the Prohibition Era.
