# Volstead Act *A 1919 United States federal statute that set the enforcement framework for national alcohol prohibition under the 18th Amendment.* The National Prohibition Act, commonly called the Volstead Act, was the 66th Congress's statute for carrying out the 18th Amendment's ban on alcoholic beverages. It was enacted on October 28, 1919, as Public Law 66-66, 41 Stat. 305.[^1][^2] Wayne Wheeler of the [[Anti-Saloon League]] conceived and wrote the bill. It bears the name of Andrew Volstead, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee and managed the measure.[^3] Volstead represented [[Minnesota]]'s 7th District.[^4][^5] The Act's long title set out its purpose. It was to prohibit intoxicating beverages, regulate high-proof spirits for non-beverage purposes, and ensure a supply of alcohol for scientific research, fuel, dye and other lawful industries.[^1][^6] The Minnesota Historical Society's MNopedia records its length and its results. The Act ran about 12,000 words and stayed in force for thirteen years.[^7] By 1934 it had produced more than 500,000 arrests and nearly $41 million in fines nationally.[^8] Ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933, ended it.[^9] The project's at-issue record carries one pair on the Act, AI-Carver-047. The pair treats the Act as a national instrument authored in Minnesota and applied to a Minnesota population. It anchors the Act to a 2026 White House presidential action.[^10] ## Who The cited account traces national prohibition to a proposal by Richmond Hobson, brought to Congress as a constitutional amendment. Attorney Wayne Wheeler then put forward the first version of the bill, which Congress amended many times.[^6] Andrew J. Volstead chaired the House Judiciary Committee from 1919 to 1923, representing Minnesota's 7th District. The Minnesota Historical Society holds his papers.[^4][^5] President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the bill, and Congress overrode the veto.[^6][^2] The sources cited here do not give party affiliations or roll-call figures for passage, the override, or the 1933 repeal measures. ## What The Act was organized in three main parts: - the war prohibition already enacted; - prohibition under the Eighteenth Amendment; - industrial alcohol.[^11] Its Title II, *Permanent National Prohibition*, set the line for "intoxicating beverages" at more than 0.5 percent alcohol. It fixed fines and jail terms for making, selling and transporting such beverages. It also prescribed who would enforce the law, the limits of search and seizure, and how violations would be adjudicated.[^1][^11] MNopedia notes that medical prescriptions and "near beer" at no more than 0.5 percent alcohol remained permitted.[^12] ## When - **November 21, 1918:** the War Time Prohibition Act, which barred the use of grain in distilling spirits, was approved.[^11] - **January 16, 1919:** the 18th Amendment was ratified.[^9] - **October 28, 1919:** the Act passed Congress over the veto.[^1][^2][^9] - **January 17, 1920:** enforcement began, according to MNopedia.[^9] Wikipedia's passage account gives January 16, 1920, as the date the Act took effect. Its enforcement account gives 12:00:01 a.m. on January 17, 1920.[^6][^13] - **February 1933:** Congress passed the Blaine Act, proposing an amendment to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment.[^14] - **March 1933:** the Cullen–Harrison Act followed.[^14] - **December 5, 1933:** Utah became the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment. That ratification removed the Eighteenth Amendment and, with it, the Volstead Act.[^14][^9] ## Where The Act applied nationwide. Police reports place the first documented violation in Chicago at 12:59 a.m. on the first day of enforcement. Six armed men took "medicinal" whiskey worth $100,000 from two freight-train cars.[^13] In Detroit, a Michigan State Police raid on the Deutsches Haus caught the mayor, the [[sheriff]] and the local congressman.[^13] In Minnesota, MNopedia records that saloons closed. Breweries such as Kiewel turned to making ice cream and non-alcoholic beverages.[^15] After repeal, control of alcohol returned to the states. Some states passed it down to counties, which produced dry counties, most of them in the South.[^14] ## Why The Act's stated purposes appear in its long title.[^1] According to the cited account, it was presented as a way to "help promote the togetherness of federal and state legislation in regulating alcohol."[^6] Wikipedia's account of the background begins with the Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893. It says the League pressed for national prohibition in the wake of World War I by linking drinking to pro-German sympathy, at a time of wartime suspicion of foreigners.[^16] Prohibitionists also argued that grain used for whiskey was needed to feed the Allied nations. That argument led to wartime prohibition in 1918 and then to the 1919 amendment.[^16] ## How Despite the commercial ban, several exceptions remained: - **Pre-Prohibition stock:** owning alcohol bought before Prohibition stayed legal. It could be served to family or guests at home if proof of purchase was kept. The cited account notes that this let wealthier people stockpile in advance.[^11] - **Medical use:** physicians could prescribe one pint of spirits every ten days. The American Medical Association objected to this limit as inadequate.[^11] - **Religious use:** clergy could obtain permits to supply alcohol for sacramental purposes only.[^11] Enforcement ran against a liquor trade that passed into the hands of criminal gangs. The gangs fought over markets and grew wealthy enough to bribe underpaid and understaffed officers and to hire costly lawyers.[^13] ## How much By 1934 the Act had produced nearly $41 million in fines nationally.[^8] The Cullen–Harrison Act of March 1933 permitted "3.2 beer" and wines of similarly low strength. That replaced the original 0.5 percent limit for those drinks.[^14] ## How many MNopedia counts more than 500,000 arrests nationally by 1934, under a statute of about 12,000 words that stood for thirteen years.[^8][^7] Repeal required ratification by 36 states, a threshold Utah reached on December 5, 1933.[^14] ## In the at-issue record Pair AI-Carver-047, dated 1922 in the project's Carver package, makes several statements about the Act: - It was drafted by the House Judiciary Committee chairman from Minnesota's 7th District, working with the Anti-Saloon League's counsel. - It ran twelve thousand words and thirteen years. - It closed the saloon culture of a Minnesota county.[^10] The pair also states that the chairman lost his seat in 1922. It says he then became legal adviser to the [[Prohibition Enforcement Bureau]].[^4] The pair's anchor is the White House presidential action *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026). Its stated reason for the pairing is that the Act is "the template — a national instrument authored in Minnesota and applied to a Minnesota population."[^10] The sources cited here do not describe the content of the 2026 action, and this article does not characterize it. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Andrew J. Volstead chaired the House Judiciary Committee, 1919–1923, representing Minnesota's 7th District.[^4][^5] ### What - The Act was enacted as Public Law 66-66, 41 Stat. 305.[^1] ### When - Passed October 28, 1919. - Enforced from January 17, 1920. - Ended with the 21st Amendment's ratification on December 5, 1933.[^9] ### Where - In Minnesota, saloons closed and breweries such as Kiewel shifted to ice cream and non-alcoholic beverages.[^15] ## Notes [^1]: Library of Congress, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act), Public Law 66-66, 41 Stat. 305* (Oct. 28, 1919) — full text in the Statutes at Large; enactment, title, and Title II provisions. https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/66th-congress/Session%201/c66s1ch85.pdf [^2]: Library of Congress, *Today in History: October 28* — Volstead Act primary materials; October 28, 1919 enactment. https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/october-28/ [^3]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311, retrieved 2026-10-27), lead — Wheeler conceived and drafted the bill; Volstead managed it as Judiciary chairman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act [^4]: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, *Andrew John Volstead* (bioguide V000114) — Volstead's congressional service. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/V000114 [^5]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Andrew J. Volstead papers*, finding aid 01316 — Volstead papers; House Judiciary chairman, 1919–1923, Minnesota 7th District. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/01316.xml [^6]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311), section *Passage of the Volstead Act* — H.R. 6810; purpose language; Hobson and Wheeler; Wilson veto and override; January 16, 1920 effective date; federal–state framing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)* — about 12,000 words; in force thirteen years. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act [^8]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)* — by 1934, 500,000+ arrests and nearly $41 million in fines nationally. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)* — 18th Amendment ratified January 16, 1919; Act passed October 28, 1919; enforcement began January 17, 1920; 21st Amendment ratified December 5, 1933. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act [^10]: The White House, *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026) — anchor document of at-issue pair AI-Carver-047. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/ [^11]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311), section *Content of the Volstead Act* — three parts; War Time Prohibition Act (November 21, 1918); Title II; legal exceptions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act [^12]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)* — medical prescriptions and "near beer" at a maximum 0.5% alcohol permitted. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act [^13]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311), section *Enforcement and impact* — gangs and bribery; 12:00:01 a.m. January 17, 1920 start; Chicago violation; Detroit raid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act [^14]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311), section *Repeal* — Blaine Act; Cullen–Harrison Act; Utah's ratification on December 5, 1933; dry counties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act [^15]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act)* — saloons closed; Kiewel brewery shifted to ice cream and non-alcoholic beverages. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act [^16]: Wikipedia, *Volstead Act* (rev. 1379626311), section *Historical context* — Anti-Saloon League (1893); wartime arguments; grain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act