In the history of the United States, which constitutional amendment passed in 1933 repealed national Prohibition of alcoholic beverages?

Introduction / Context:
Prohibition in the United States refers to the period when the production, sale and transport of alcoholic beverages were banned nationwide. This policy was established by one constitutional amendment and later reversed by another. Knowing which amendment ended Prohibition is a classic question in United States and world history exams. The question here asks you to identify the amendment passed in 1933 that repealed national Prohibition.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The policy in question is national Prohibition of alcohol.
• The year mentioned is 1933, during the Great Depression and the early New Deal era.
• The options list the Twenty first, Twentieth, Nineteenth and Eighteenth Amendments.
• You must know which amendment repealed Prohibition, not which one created it.

Concept / Approach:
The Eighteenth Amendment, ratified in 1919, established national Prohibition in the United States. It was enforced by the Volstead Act. Over time, Prohibition led to unintended consequences such as organised crime and loss of tax revenue. By 1933, public opinion and economic conditions had turned strongly against the policy. The Twenty first Amendment was then proposed and ratified to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment and end national Prohibition. The Twentieth Amendment mainly dealt with changing the dates for the start of presidential and congressional terms, and the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. Therefore, the correct approach is to select the Twenty first Amendment as the repeal measure.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that the Eighteenth Amendment started Prohibition by banning the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Step 2: Remember that by the early 1930s the policy was widely viewed as unsuccessful and harmful. Step 3: Note that in 1933 the United States ratified a new amendment specifically to repeal the earlier one. Step 4: Identify this new amendment as the Twenty first Amendment in your knowledge of United States constitutional history. Step 5: Choose the Twenty first Amendment option as the correct answer, and not the Eighteenth Amendment, which created Prohibition.

Verification / Alternative Check:
Standard references on United States history almost always present Prohibition as a pair of amendments: the Eighteenth to start it and the Twenty first to end it. They often mention that the Twenty first Amendment is the only constitutional amendment ratified by state conventions rather than by state legislatures, underlining its special nature. The Nineteenth Amendment is discussed in the context of women's suffrage, and the Twentieth in discussions of lame duck sessions and inauguration dates. None of these sources confuse the numbers, so this pattern confirms that the answer is the Twenty first Amendment.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The Twentieth Amendment dealt with changing the dates on which the terms of the President, Vice President and members of Congress begin and end, not with alcohol laws. The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote and is an important milestone in the struggle for gender equality, unrelated to Prohibition. The Eighteenth Amendment started Prohibition and therefore cannot be the amendment that repealed it. Selecting the Eighteenth Amendment would reverse the direction of cause and effect, which is incorrect for this question.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes mix up amendment numbers or wrongly assume that the same amendment both created and ended a policy. Another pitfall is to focus only on the Eighteenth Amendment because it is so closely associated with Prohibition, forgetting that the question asks about repeal. To avoid these mistakes, it is helpful to memorise a small set of key amendments with their main topics, such as the Thirteenth for abolition of slavery, the Nineteenth for women's suffrage, the Eighteenth for Prohibition and the Twenty first for repeal. This simple list will make such multiple choice questions much easier to answer.

Final Answer:
In 1933, the United States repealed national Prohibition with the Twenty first Amendment, so that option is correct.