Changes

Natural landscapes, political processes, economic and industrial power, and individual morality all came under scrutiny for regulation by newly powerful state organizations interested in the creation of an orderly society ruled by certified experts. The Progressive Era also encouraged participation in government and benefitted the Prohibition Movement with the passage of two other constitutional amendments, the 16th, and 19th amendments. The 16th amendment allowed the federal government to levy personal income taxes, which provided a new revenue stream that could replace excise taxes placed on alcohol. The 19th amendment granted the right to vote to women, who were proportionally more likely to support prohibition.

In addition to these national political trends, there were societal changes that also spurred the United States towards a national prohibition of alcohol. As the nation continued to industrialize, some of the same concerns about discouraging drinking resurfaced, but the nation was also divided over prohibition along ethnic lines. Roman Catholics, who were largely part of the “new immigrant” waves that dominated the latter 19th and early 20th century, rejected any proposed ban on alcohol. Many major Protestant churches, including Methodists and Baptists, favored prohibition as a moral issue.