<P> Agitation for prohibition began during the Second Great Awakening in the 1840s when crusades against drinking originated from evangelical Protestants . Evangelicals precipitated the second wave of prohibition legislation during the 1880s, which had as its aim local and state prohibition . During the 1880s, referendums were held at the state level to enact prohibition amendments . Two important groups were formed during this period . The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in 1874 . The Anti-Saloon League was formed in 1893, uniting activists from different religious groups . </P> <P> The third wave of prohibition legislation, of which national prohibition was the grand climax, began in 1907, when Georgia passed a statewide prohibition law . By 1917, two thirds of the states had some form of prohibition laws and roughly three quarters of the population lived in dry areas . In 1913, the Anti-Saloon League first publicly appealed for a prohibition amendment . They preferred a constitutional amendment over a federal statute because although harder to achieve, they felt it would be harder to change . In 1913, Congress passed the Webb - Kenyon Act, which forbade the transport of liquor into dry states . As the United States entered World War I, the Conscription Act banned the sale of liquor near military bases . In August 1917, the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act banned production of distilled spirits for the duration of the war . The War Prohibition Act, November, 1918, forbade the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages (more than 2.75% alcohol content) until the end of demobilization . </P> <P> The drys worked energetically to secure two - third majority of both houses of Congress and the support of three quarters of the states needed for an amendment to the federal constitution . Thirty - six states were needed, and organizations were set up at all 48 states to seek ratification . In late 1917, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment; it was ratified in 1919 and took effect in January 1920 . It prohibited the manufacturing, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages within the United States, as well as import and export . The Volstead Act, 1919, defined intoxicating as having alcohol content greater than 0.5% and established the procedures for federal enforcement of the Act . The states were at liberty to enforce prohibition or not, and most did not try . </P> <P> Consumer demand, however, led to a variety of illegal sources for alcohol, especially illegal distilleries and smuggling from Canada and other countries . It is difficult to determine the level of compliance, and although the media at the time portrayed the law as highly ineffective, even if it did not eradicate the use of alcohol, it certainly decreased alcohol consumption during the period . The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed in 1933, with the passage of the Twenty - First Amendment, thanks to a well - organized repeal campaign led by Catholics (who stressed personal liberty) and businessmen (who stressed the lost tax revenue). </P>

Explain how the american financial system changed as a result of the progressive era