Can morality be legislated?

April is Alcohol Awareness Month. Today's problems with alcohol abuse include college students who binge drink at local bars, pregnant women who drink and put their babies at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome, professionals who drink after a long day of work; and senior citizens who drink out of loneliness.

Alcohol abuse is not restricted to the present in the U.S. It has a long history that ultimately resulted in the passage of ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the manufacture, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

On January 17, 1920, Congress passed the Volstead Act to enforce the new amendment.

The law represented the culmination of decades of activism by temperance advocates, who contended that alcoholism hurt worker productivity, contributed to domestic violence and family disruption, and was responsible for a number of health problems.

Assign students to address the Document Based Question recommended for the topic Prohibition: The statement "you can't legislate morality" is often used to oppose government regulation of citizens' private lives.

Evaluate the statement's validity with respect to prohibition during the 1920s. Cite at least three resources in an essay of at least 150 words.

Click the 1920s icon > Prohibition > click Document Based Question (DBQ) link.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.