Jack of Harts

The Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution actually showcased how the industrial revolution changed politics in the United States. Back when the Constitution was ratified, it could take months for new Federally elected individuals to travel from their home States to the capital. The creation of nation-wide railroads and the automobile roads would change that drastically, and by the 1930s there was a significant gap between the election in November and the start of the new terms in March that was not needed for travel times. This Amendment therefore changed the Congressional terms to end on January 3, and required that the new Congress have its first session on that same date. We all know now that it is on January 6th that this NEW Congress counts the delegates for the Presidency, and this Amendment changed Presidential term to ending on January 20th. There were also a number of clarifications on Presidential Successions and how to handle the issue of an unqualified person getting the most votes. If for examples the President-Elect died, was too young, or not born in America, the Vice-President-Elect would become the Acting President until Congress managed to clear the relevant issues up.

The Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States. No importation. No exportation. One interesting historical fact is that when the Amendment was voted on, most people thought that “intoxicating liquors” only meant distilled alcohol. That it would not cover things like beer and wine which were not distilled. It was a great surprise to many when the Volstead Act specifically included them as types of “intoxicating liquors.” This would lead to the creation of the various “Near Beers” that had low enough alcohol contents to slip under the Volstead Act, as well as companies selling ingredients that could be used to make “intoxicating liquors” with clear instructions on what NOT to do with them. It would be wrong to allow people to accidentally break the law due to lack of knowledge, doncha know? Coincidentally, one of the primary fuels used for most automobiles at the time was various distilled alcohols of some type, since any farmer could find something to distill on their farm, and alcohol actually burns more cleanly than oil-based gasoline. Gas stations as we know them now were largely limited to the big cities, until this amendment made distilling alcohol-based fuel illegal.