Prohabition

Prohibition is the forbidding of alcohol by law. Organized efforts to limit the use of alcoholic beverages began in the United States during the 1820’s. The misuse of alcohol was a problem throughout the country, including Kansas. Many religious people thought that drinking was morally wrong. Most of the people who wanted alcohol limited or banned were these types of people. People continued to have rallies and pass out pamphlets urging people to help try to ban alcohol. The first temperance legislation was passed in Massachusetts in 1838. It was called the "15-gallon law". What this law did was prohibit the sale of alcohol in amounts of less than 15 gallons. This limited the sale of alcohol to the wealthy. In 1846 Maine passed the first state prohibition law. By the mid-1850s 13 states had laws similar to this, but by 1863 all but Maine had repealed them. Two major temperance organizations were founded in the decade after the Civil War. The National Prohibition party was founded in ...