Constitution Cards

All cards โ€บ Amendment XVIII

Amendment XVIII: Prohibition of alcohol

Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.

In plain English

Banned making, selling and transporting alcoholic drinks. Repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.

Original text

Section 1

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Plain-English summaries are simplified for learning. Courts interpret these words in detail; this is general information, not legal advice.

Source: National Archives