There were two important reasons why prohibition ended in 1933. The first reason was that prohibition wasn’t working. Despite the ban on the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcohol, people still got alcohol and drank. People joined private, secret clubs, called speakeasies where they would drink. Even President Harding would drink in the White House with his poker-player buddies. Mayor LaGuardia of New York City was known for saying he would have needed to hire hundreds of thousands of police officers just to police the police that were drinking. Organized crime took over the distribution of alcohol, leading to violent confrontations. While prohibition may have seemed like a good idea, it just wasn’t working. People really didn’t want to give up drinking alcohol. It was time to end the mockery people were making of the 18th amendment. The 21st amendment ended prohibition in 1933.
Another reason why prohibition ended was that we were in the Great Depression. If drinking became legal again, more jobs would be created throughout the alcohol industry. Since we had a record high unemployment rate, anything that would help create jobs would be a good thing. The Great Depression played a smaller role in ending the 18th amendment. Creating jobs was a side benefit to approving the 21st amendment.
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