The Volstead Act.
This act was conceived and introduced by Wayne Wheeler, a leader of the Anti-Saloon League, a group which found alcohol responsible for almost all of society's problems and which also ran many campaigns against the sale of alcohol. The law was also heavily supported by then-Judiciary Chairman Andrew Volstead from Minnesota, and was named in his honor. The act in its written form laid the groundwork of prohibition, defining the procedures for banning the distribution of alcohol including their production and distribution.
Volstead had once before introduced an early version of the law to Congress. It was first brought to the floor on May 27, 1919, where it met heavy resistance from Democratic senators. Instead, the so-called "wet law" was introduced, an attempt to end the wartime prohibition laws put into effect much earlier. The debate over prohibition would rage for that entire session, as the House was divided among what would become known as the "bone-drys" and the "wets". Because Republicans held the majority of the House of Representatives, the Volstead Act finally passed on July 22, 1919, with 287 in favor and 100 opposed.
However, the act was largely a failure, proving unable to prevent mass distribution of alcoholic beverages and also inadvertently causing a massive increase in organized crime. The act would go on to define the terms and enforcement methods of prohibition, until the passing of the 21st amendment in 1933 effectively repealed it.
Controversies.
The proposed amendment was the first to contain a provision setting a deadline for its ratification. That clause of the amendment was challenged, with the case reaching the US Supreme Court. It upheld the constitutionality of such a deadline in Dillon v Gloss (1921). The Supreme Court also upheld the ratification by the Ohio legislature in Hawke v Smith (1920), despite a petition requiring that the matter go to ballot.
