Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution (Prohibition), as printed in H. Doc. 110-50

H. Doc. 110-50 prints the Constitution as amended, with notes on each amendment’s proposal and ratification. Section 1 of the Eighteenth Amendment provides that one year from ratification “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” (U.S. Const. amend. XVIII, sec. 1). Section 2 gives Congress and the several States concurrent power to enforce it, and section 3 made the article inoperative unless the state legislatures ratified it within seven years.

The document’s note records that the amendment was proposed on December 18, 1917, that ratification was completed on January 16, 1919, and that the Secretary of State proclaimed it ratified by 36 of the 48 States on January 29, 1919.

Dates differ between federal pages. ATF’s history timeline says “January 19, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment”; H. Doc. 110-50 gives January 16, 1919 for the completion of ratification by the States, and this page uses that date. ATF’s timeline describes the years that followed: “Underground distilleries and saloons supply bootlegged liquor to an abundant clientele, while organized criminals fight to control illegal alcohol markets.” That sentence is the agency’s account, not part of the amendment.

The Twenty-first Amendment of 1933 repealed this article; it is filed separately from the same House Document.