The temperance movement and the Progressive movement both pushed for prohibition,
Prohibition came as a result of strong pressure from various Protestant denominations and temperance groups such as the Prohibition Party and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Demands from the WCTU and other womens' groups along with pressure from Protestant churches caused Prohibition.
Organized criminals, bootleggers, moonshiners, and public officials who were corrupt were among the beneficiaries of Prohibition.
The WCTU, among many other groups.
Criminals and corrupt public officials.
Abuses by big business
Abuses by big business
Several specific groups played key roles in passing prohibition laws, most notably the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. The WCTU focused on the moral and social implications of alcohol, advocating for sobriety and women's rights. The Anti-Saloon League was instrumental in lobbying for legislation and mobilizing public support against alcohol consumption. Together, these organizations, along with religious groups and various social reformers, successfully pushed for the enactment of the 18th Amendment in 1919.
There were three main reasons for prohibition lasting so long: 1) the strengths of the groups who had campaigned for it - the church (moral reasons), industrialists (workers were more efficient when not hungover/drunk), women's groups (problems it caused to families and moral reasons), politicians (many breweries were German knock on effect from WW1), doctors (health reasons) 2) The successes of prohibition - consumption of alcohol fell not just during prohibition but for many years after, soft drinks and tea industries flourished, not as many arrests for drunkenness during Prohibition, violent crime didn't increase despite what is thought and although organised crime became more visible it existed before and after prohibition 3) The time it took to repeal the law - many strong groups had campaigned for prohibition and so it took time to find groups who were against prohibition and then time for the campaign to get started.
Robert P. Shuler and Wayne Wheeler were two significant players during prohibition. Others were Annie Wittenmyer and Al Capone. Prohibition in the U.S. ended in 1933.
Highly organized and well financed pressure groups pressured for prohibition and millions of citizens were willing to give the social engineering experiment a chance to work.