Video: 'Prohibition in the United States: National Ban of Alcohol'

(Tuesday, December 5, 1933, 3:32 p.m. MST; during Prohibition in the United States) — The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment which had made the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol illegal across the U.S., was ratified today by the 36th of 48 states, bringing the necessary 3/4ths majority necessary to take effect.

At 3:32 p.m. local time, the constitutional convention in Utah, whose 21 delegates had been elected on November 7, voted for repeal. Earlier in the day, Ohio and Pennsylvania had become the 34th and 35th states, respectively, to ratify the amendment.

Video: 'History Brief: The Repeal of Prohibition'

Prohibition was introduced in 1920 as a result of the Eighteenth Amendment.

This ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was greeted with delight by members of the temperance movement, but many law-abiding Americans who had previously been drinkers felt anger towards the government for criminalising what they viewed as a harmless activity.

As a result, some members of the public were willing to break the law, and this quickly ushered in a period of criminal activity focused around the production of illegal bootlegged alcohol.

Video: 'The 21st Amendment Explained: American Government Review'

Al Capone, one of prohibition’s most famous gangster bosses, made around $60 million a year from bootlegging alcohol and selling it in so-called ‘speakeasies’.

Combined with many police officers being paid by the criminals to turn a blind eye to illegal activity, prohibition brought lawlessness and corruption to America.

In the wake of the Wall Street Crash, repealing prohibition made sound economic sense, although the introduction of the 21st Amendment ensured that individual states were still able to enforce their alcohol laws.