Prohibition generally refers to period during the early 20th century in which the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages was outlawed. In December 1917, the United States Congress approved a resolution to submit a constitutional amendment on nationwide prohibition to the states for ratification. The new amendment prohibited “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” After the measure was passed by the requisite number of states, Congress ratified the Eighteenth Amendment on January 16, 1920; nationwide prohibition began the next day. Prohibition was repealed with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 5, 1933.