The 1920s is one of the most vibrant and rebellious periods in modern American history. A Constitutional amendment that took effect in 1920 kicked off the decade by prohibiting the consumption of alcohol. This was supposed to solve some of the nation's most pressing social issues, including alcoholism, childhood malnutrition, and domestic violence. Instead, it uncorked a cultural rebellion and a host of new social problems, and its effects are still felt today.

Attempts to circumvent or profit from Prohibition gave crime new meaning, provoking a 12-year-long gang war that made Al Capone a household name. Women became more liberated, a sexual revolution got underway, and jazz transformed from an underground expression of the African American experience into the soundtrack of a new generation. Even the president drank in violation of the law.

Historian Allen Pietrobon, an associate professor of global affairs at Trinity Washington University, examines the role that alcohol played in American life leading up to Prohibition. He delves into how drinking had become such a problem that the U.S. banned “intoxicating beverages,” why trying to outlaw all alcohol backfired spectacularly, and how American society and culture changed throughout the 1920s.

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