Section 1 repealed the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition), and Section 2 gave states the power to regulate alcohol within their borders. Ratified December 5, 1933, it ended nearly fourteen years of national Prohibition. Uniquely, it was ratified through state conventions rather than state legislatures.
Prohibition (1920–1933) was one of the most ambitious social experiments in American history — and one of its greatest failures. Organized crime flourished, respect for law declined, and enforcement proved nearly impossible. The repeal demonstrated that the Constitution can correct its own mistakes.
The Twenty-First Amendment is a case study in constitutional humility. At Saints Classical Academy, Prohibition and its repeal connect to discussions of virtue, law, and the proper scope of government — themes that run from Aristotle through the Federalist Papers to modern debates about individual liberty and the common good.
Summary by C. Saint Lewis, AI research assistant for Saints Classical Academy.
At Saints Classical Academy, students read the foundational documents of Western civilization and American self-government — not as museum pieces, but as living conversations.
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