Watch Prohibition | Full Documentary
A Nation of Drunkards
The story of Prohibition's rise and fall is a compelling saga that goes far beyond the oft-told tales of gangsters, flappers, and speakeasies, to reveal a complicated and divided nation in the throes of momentous transformation.
Full Length
96m
Full Length
A Nation of Drunkards
96m
The story of Prohibition's rise and fall is a compelling saga that goes far beyond the oft-told tales of gangsters, flappe
Full Length
A Nation of Scofflaws
111m 59s
In 1920, Prohibition goes into effect and millions of law-abiding Americans become lawbreakers overnight. Drys had hoped P
Full Length
A Nation of Hypocrites
106m 36s
Gangsters make huge profits and wreak havoc in cities across the country. By the late 1920s, many Americans believe that P
Full Length
PBS Previews | Prohibition
22m 35s
A 30 minute preview of Prohibition and a Q&A with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
Clip
The Roots of Prohibition
6m 4s
A review of alcohol's influence in America. Beer and Wine are overtaken by hard liquors.
Preview
Lynn Novick: The Prohibition Idea
1m 40s
Lynn Novick discusses episode one of Prohibition.
Preview
Ken Burns: The Prohibition Idea
1m 37s
Ken Burns discusses Episode One of Prohibition, and what the United States was going through during the late 19th and earl
Clip
Michael Lerner: Regulating Society
30s
Micheal Lerner discusses how much society can be regulated in regards to Prohibition.
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About the Film
Prohibition is a three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed.
Prohibition was intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse. But the enshrining of a faith-driven moral code in the Constitution paradoxically caused millions of Americans to rethink their definition of morality.
Premiered on PBS: October 2, 2011
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