Two of the greatest influences shaping American’s opinion on Prohibition, which took effect in 1920, were economic and moral. Before World War I, most of the federal government’s revenues came from taxing alcoholic beverages. One of the arguments for the constitutional amendment to tax personal income was to take the tax burden off the poor drinker and place it on the shoulders of rich Americans. Once accomplished, the system appeared to work as the 1920s roared and income taxes rolled in.