Acts, Bills, and Laws
Volstead Act
October 1919

Andrew J. Volstead, Republican representative from Minnesota, was the driving force behind the National Prohibition Act (popularly the Volstead Act). This measure, passed over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, served as enabling legislation for the recently ratified 18th Amendment. The measure provided for the following:

• The manufacture, transport, export, sale or possession of alcoholic beverages was prohibited within the United States
• Alcoholic beverages were those that contained more than one-half percent of alcohol
• Federal agents were empowered to investigate and prosecute violators.

Volstead failed to get reelected in 1922, but some authorities have suggested that low farm prices, rather than prohibition legislation, accounted for his defeat. The public adhered to this law fairly faithfully in its early years, but support declined sharply as crime rates increased.

In early 1933, in anticipation of the 18th Amendment's repeal, the Volstead Act was revised, which allowed the manufacture and sale of 3.2 percent beer. The act was voided later that year with the adoption of the 21st Amendment.

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