18th Amendment Artwork

"Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article 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.

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress."

- 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution

Today the 18th Amendment is meaningless because it was repealed. However, once upon a time it did serve a great purpose. The 18th Amendment was the Prohibition of Alcohol. There isn't much to say about this amendment except that it took away everyone's right to consume alcohol, no matter how old you were or you status. What I find important are the increases in violent behavior during this time:

According to Albany.edu

• Police funding: INCREASED $11.4 Million
• Arrests for Prohibition Las Violations: INCREASED 102%
• Arrests for Drunkenness and Disorderly Conduct: INCREASED 41%
• Arrests of Drunken Drivers: INCREASED 81%
• Thefts and Burglaries: INCREASED 9%
• Homicides, Assault, and Battery: INCREASED 13%
• Number of Federal Convicts: INCREASED 561%
• Federal Prison Population: INCREASED 366%
• Total Federal Expenditures on Penal Institutions: INCREASED 1,000%

None of the increases were positive except for police funding, but that 11.4 million dollars could have went to something more meaningful such as education. The artwork I chose was a picture of a tombstone for John Barleycorn who represented alcohol. Make sure to look at the Date of Death, and then the question  mark which showed the  possible resurrection of alcohol. A humorous thing they threw in, if you haven't caught it already, is the last name which is 'Barleycorn.' I thought it was a unique and symbolic image.

Tombstone for John Barleycorn

Albany.edu