Prohibition Party

Join us in spreading our values and preserving an important piece of American history by becoming a dues paying member of the Prohibition Party ($10 per year). 🇺🇸 paypal.com/donate/?hosted_bu…

Alcohol causes more emergency department visits than any other substance in America. More than cocaine. More than heroin. More than methamphetamine. More than all of them combined. Legal alcohol. Sold everywhere. The drys were right.

Kansas entered the Union in 1861 and had prohibition in its state constitution by 1881. Twenty years of statehood, then a democratic decision to go dry. Kansas voters knew what alcohol was doing and chose to end it.

The temperance movement published temperance almanacs, temperance songbooks, temperance plays, and temperance novels. They built an entire subculture around sobriety. Culture matters as much as law in shaping behavior.

Frances Willard said women who joined the WCTU were not merely being charitable. They were exercising political power through the only channels available to them. The WCTU was a political party for women who couldn't vote.

The Maine Law of 1851 established that states could prohibit alcohol as a matter of commerce regulation. The Supreme Court later upheld this principle. The legal foundation for Prohibition was built in Maine and confirmed by courts.

Prohibition was the most successful public health intervention in American history measured by the scale of behavior change it achieved. Alcohol consumption fell 30 to 70 percent from pre-Prohibition levels by various estimates.

The WCTU's White Ribbon Ceremony was held for newborn babies. Parents pledging to raise their children sober. Forty years of that tradition produced the generation that ratified the 18th Amendment. Culture change is long work.

As awkward as it feels to say, congratulations to the @Brewers on becoming the 2026 World Series Champions.

Before Prohibition, workers in some industries were paid partly in company scrip that could only be redeemed at company saloons. Prohibition broke this system. It was labor protection as much as moral reform.

The dry counties of America today are geographically concentrated in areas that were most thoroughly organized by the temperance movement: the Midwest, the upper South, and Appalachia. The movement's roots determined where dryness survived.

Alcohol's harm to the cardiovascular system is well-established. Atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and stroke are all associated with chronic alcohol use. Prohibition was a heart health intervention for millions.

The WCTU organized women's marches, petition campaigns, legislative lobbying, and direct action against saloons decades before American women had the vote. They were the most politically active women in the country.

Wayne Wheeler's political operation was so effective that the Cincinnati Enquirer called him the strongest political force of his day. Not the president. Not the speaker of the House. A temperance lobbyist. That's what organization and focus produce.

Before Prohibition, the typical American city had more saloons per block than any other commercial establishment. The saturation was the problem. Prohibition addressed the saturation. Less access meant less drinking.

The American wine industry before Prohibition was small but growing. Prohibition destroyed it. After repeal, the knowledge was lost, the vines replaced, and the industry had to rebuild from scratch. That's Prohibition working.

The WCTU's 'Do Everything' was not a dilution of the temperance focus. It was a strategic recognition that temperance could not succeed in isolation. You needed labor rights, women's rights, and education reform to support sobriety.

Alcohol is involved in approximately 37 percent of violent crimes according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data. This figure was cited by temperance advocates in the 19th century based on police reports. Their estimates were accurate.

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The first documented Volstead Act violation occurred 59 minutes after Prohibition began: six armed men stole $100,000 in medicinal whiskey. The criminal class was ready. They'd been planning for months. The law was not the problem.

Early voting has begun in New York! Make sure to write in Jonathan Makeley (a Prohibitionist) for governor!