Drinking Age
Before the twentieth century, few laws controlled the consumption of alcoholic beverages by youth. Laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors were first put in place early in the twentieth century, as part of a broader trend of increasing legal controls on adolescent behavior. During the period known as Prohibition, from 1919 to 1933, the sale of alcohol to people of all ages was illegal. When Prohibition was repealed, all fifty states established legal minimum ages for the buying or drinking of alcohol, with most states setting the age at 21.
From the 1930s through the 1960s, the drinking age was not an issue of great public interest. However, in the 1970s a change in the voting age led to changes in the drinking age as well. In 1970 the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the voting age in federal elections from 21 to 18. By 1974, all fifty states had lowered their voting ages for state elections to 18. As part of a trend to lower the "age of majority," twenty-nine states also lowered their minimum drinking ages, with most setting the age at 18 or 19.
Then, in the mid-1970s, studies emerged showing significant increases in the rate of young drivers' involvement in traffic accidents.This increase in accidents began almost immediately after the legal drinking age was reduced.
This page contains 201 words.
Drinking Age article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 1,626 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Legal drinking age Article
