Prohibition and the Temperance Movement

Prohibition in Kansas.

At the end of the nineteenth century six states (Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Kansas, and Rhode Island) were officially "dry," which meant it was illegal to manufacture or sell alcohol in them. In 1888 the Supreme Court ruled that states could not prohibit the sale of alcohol that came into a state in its original package: this, said the Court, would interfere with Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. Though a state banned alcohol, hotels and clubs could sell alcohol by the bottle. A state that wanted to prevent alcohol abuse, then, could not completely control drinking. After the Court made this ruling, the liquor interest pushed to have all state laws limiting alcohol sales repealed. This move by the liquor interest, seemingly supported by the U.S. Supreme Court, came at a time when many Americans felt powerless to control the new economic forces that governed their society.

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