America During Prohibition - How A Nation Kept on Drinking

Starting with the early temperance movement and culminating in the passage of the 18th Amendment, this course examines the origins and implementation of Prohibition in the United States. It explores how Americans adjusted to laws that prohibited the production, transportation, and sale of alcohol, with particular attention to the lesser-known aspects of the era. Topics include alcohol smuggling, the rise of organized crime, the clandestine locations where people continued to drink, and the technological innovations that emerged to sustain illegal alcohol production and distribution. The course concludes with an examination of the political and social forces that led to the repeal of the 18th Amendment. This dynamic and densely packed period of history is often oversimplified as an era of prosperity, but it reveals a far more complex and compelling story.