The 18th Amendment was passed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and it was ratified by the states on January 16, 1919, which is when it officially became part of the U.S. Constitution.

Key dates

  • Congress passed it: December 18, 1917.
  • Ratified by the states (officially adopted): January 16, 1919.
  • Prohibition actually began: January 17, 1920, one year after ratification, as specified by the amendment’s text.

What the 18th Amendment did

The 18th Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States, ushering in the era known as Prohibition. It did not itself create detailed enforcement rules, so Congress passed the Volstead Act in October 1919 to define “intoxicating liquors” and lay out how the ban would be enforced.

Later history

Prohibition under the 18th Amendment led to major social and political effects, including the rise of illegal liquor trade and organized crime. The amendment was eventually repealed by the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933, making it the only U.S. constitutional amendment ever fully repealed.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.