The 18th Amendment

North Carolina is well known for its mountains, the Piedmont, & our beaches. But before the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began work on the Blue Ridge Parkway in rural Appalachia, we were famous for moonshine.

My second historical fiction novel, Devils Ridge, centers around a moonshiner named Connor Ridge who turns his skills into a surprisingly versatile and lucrative business in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina. In the meantime, he leads local law enforcement on an explosive albeit fiery collision course.

Bootleggers found ways to make cars faster, steadier, roomier, and more powerful to haul more product and maximize profits. Without them, the sport we know today as NASCAR would not exist. Some of the most famous drivers, such as Junior Johnston, got their start running moonshine in North Carolina. Johnson’s father was also one of the largest copper still operators in western North Carolina.

Moonshiners greased the hands of everyone from store owners, for extra sugar or supplies, to local law enforcement officers who would turn a blind eye to their operations in exchange for a cut of the profits. Yes, even for these individuals moonshine provided an extra income. Almost everyone in Appalachia back then had a still. Especially since the price of corn was higher in liquid form than in actual bushels.

Thus, in lies the question – was prohibition worth it or did it create more problems than it resolved?

The 18th Amendment & Organized Crime

In 1919 the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited the sale of illicit liquor, but it never barred individuals from actually consuming it. Powerful political figures, mob bosses, local gangs, all found ways around the movement – even churches took part. The religious argument was so convincing, in 1922, just three years later, the ban on churches receiving wine for communion was lifted.

Families living in rural Appalachia during the early 1930s had been enduring an agricultural depression long before the Stock Market crash of 1929. Making moonshine was their only option. Without it, they risked not having a roof over their heads.

One might point to the Alphabet agencies and Roosevelt’s promise to bring America out of the depths of the Great Depression. There were those who preferred not to work for one of those newly created government agencies, however, believing they provided nothing more than small handouts that would not go far.

Make no mistake, bootlegging and moonshine-making were both dangerous. If caught moonshiners could not only be jailed but possibly killed. Many raids ended in a hail of gunfire; some ended as quick as they started, while others may have lasted hours. Moreover, if one were to consume a bad batch of the moonshine, better known as ‘rotgut’, they could easily suffer from paralysis, end up blind, or even dead.

Organized crime increased throughout the ‘20s and ‘30s because of moonshining and bootlegging. The antihero became mainstream and figures like Baby Face Nelson or John Dillinger were not just considered criminals, but the Robin Hoods of their day. No mobster, however, was or is as well-known as Al Capone. Desperate to take hold of organized crime, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover managed to finally take down Capone, not for his liquor dealings or the murders he had knowingly committed, but for tax evasion.

Moonshine played an important role in the development of organized crime as we know it. Once prohibition ended it gave rise to a new war in Appalachia – the war on drugs. Criminal organizations like Dixie Mafia, who originated in Appalachia during the Whiskey Rebellion, spread chaos in multiple states across the Midwest to deep South, well into the 1970s.

The Culture of Moonshine

Unlike Al Capone, the First President of the United States knew to pay his liquor tax. Mount Vernon, home to George Washington, was at one time one of the largest distilleries in the nation. It produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey in 1799. The contents of each still never went into a jar or jug after being distilled but were instead placed straight into copper barrels for distribution.

Aside from Washington, Capone, and our immigrant ancestors, we can also look at the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. John’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, made his living off moonshine. It is well-known that Joseph was a bootlegger and had made powerful friends along the way – connections which later helped John F. Kennedy become President.

Various arguments were made in defense of moonshine and bootlegging. Many Southerners saw moonshine as a medicine able to cure ailments, though this seems like an example of individuals finding a loophole to the 18th Amendment by obtaining prescriptions to consume alcohol. Others believed moonshining was part of their heritage. It was a way of keeping history alive, reminding them of their homelands in Ireland, Germany, and Scotland. In Appalachia most have Scotch-Irish or German ancestry. These early settlers were often isolated from civilization and lived off the land.

Outsiders who wandered into these mountains saw how impulsive and violent these settlers could be. Add in strong drink and some got the reputation of being nothing but fighters, hence the badly beaten English soldiers who believed they could take back the colonies during the American Revolution. These settlers were often brutal towards the British, killing thousands, and claiming one of the earliest victories in the Revolution.

Many men and women took drinking too far, losing their homes, families, and livelihoods as a consequence. This breakdown of the family unit helped drive the Suffrage Movement, which culminated in the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For years before the Temperance Movement, women struggled more and more to keep their families safe and together. The Amendment gave women the ability to have more say in their homes, and more importantly in society.

Was Prohibition Worth It?

God’s law was of the utmost importance in the early 20th century. Some argued that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was Man’s law and not consistent with Christian scripture, in which wine is used for the Eucharist. Moreover, many believed moonshining was a legitimate means of supporting their families, because they were not harming others (directly) in the process. To them they were good at making something which could be exchanged for clothes to keep their children warm or money to pay rent.

Supporters of the moonshine and bootlegging industries conveniently ignored the fact that it was a dirty and dangerous way of making a living – not to mention that it went against most religious beliefs.

Scripture says one must abstain from strong drink unless curing an ailment as declared in 1 Timothy 5:23. Christians can also point to Ephesians 5:18, Proverbs 20:1, and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Men, according to scripture, are to make a living by the sweat of their brow. This is the punishment for Adam’s sin, when he ate fruit from the tree of knowledge in Eden.

Making moonshine and running liquor was not work that served the Lord. It harmed thousands of people. At the same time, it strengthened criminal organizations by supplying them with an income that could be spent buying off city officials, politicians, and judges.

Prohibition, the great social experiment, did not live up to the expectation of lawmakers. With the repeal of the 18th Amendment America saw an increase in the number of jobs along with a reduction in crime and corruption. In answer to the question of whether the 18th Amendment was worth it, statistically speaking, it most definitely was not.

For all the issues prohibition was supposed to alleviate, it added others. During my research, a colleague gracefully explained why this was so. They observed that although alcoholism was bad, costing people their jobs, homes, and often safety, it was nowhere near as bad as the war that followed once the 18th Amendment was repealed. History repeated itself as the ‘War on Drugs’ was waged in Appalachia.