Moonshine is a generic term for high-proof distilled spirits that are usually made illegally (often in an attempt to avoid taxation). Making moonshine was very popular in Tennessee well before prohibition. As state and nation prohibition laws forced distilleries to close their doors, however, demand for moonshine dramatically increased, and the Prohibition era is often considered the golden age of moonshining.
Moonshiners, also known as bootleggers, were quick to take advantage of the demand Prohibition created for their product. They shifted their priorities from the quality to the quantity of their liquor, thereby making much more money. Paint thinner, antifreeze, manure, and embalming fluid were just a few of the hazardous ingredients used to make this moonshine. The first run of each batch |
of moonshine was often poisonous. Many drinkers were blinded, paralyzed or even killed. In 1927 New York officials confiscated over 480,000 gallons of liquor, and they found that most of it contained poisons. For the 13 years of Prohibition, however, thirsty and determined drinkers had little choice but to buy the cheaply-made liquor unless they purchased it from the trusted and legendary makers in Cannon County. Al Capone wasn't just rumored to make his way to Cannon County for nothing.
Tennesseans, perhaps naturally, also sought out establishments in which they could partake of alcoholic beverages being produced in the state. The 1837 Report of the Joint Committee of the General Assembly, on Tipping Houses ("tippling house" is an antiquated term for a bar or saloon) states: |
In 1890, using the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Congress passed the Wilson Act (or Original Packages Act).
In 1909 a partial statewide prohibition became law. One bill banned the sale of liquor within 4 miles of a school and the second prohibited the manufacture of intoxicating beverages.
In 1913, Congress passed the Webb-Kenyon Act, which banned the importation of alcoholic beverages into states that had passed prohibition to protect 'dry' states from their 'wet' neighbors.
It was November 18, 1918 when the Wartime Prohibition Act passed. Temperance forces argued that wartime prohibition was needed to stop the waste of materials like grain and molasses.
January 13, 1919 Tennessee ratified the 18th Amendment (National Prohibition). This did not prohibit drinking alcohol, it outlawed its sale and distribution.
On January 16, 1920 National Prohibition passed into law.
On August 11, 1933 Tennessee became the 19th state to ratify the 21st Amendment which repealed the 18th Amendment. The problem was that the 21st Amendment did not overturn any existing state laws regarding alcohol sales, consumption or the ban on manufacturing alcoholic beverages.
In 1937 the ban on manufacturing was repealed.
In 2009 Tennessee passed a law allowing the legal production of whiskey and other distilled spirits in the 41 counties that already have approved retail package sales and liquor-by-the-drink sales.
In 2010 the state gave the first license to the Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg.
On November 2, 2010 voters granted Kaufman permission to build a distillery in Cannon County through a general election referendum and the Short Mountain Distillery was created.