Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.
This series is about love of country, our flag and our Constitution and as such at each cache in this series you will be able to spot an American flag from the GZ. The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Solve the puzzle to obtain the coordinates for the final location. The flag can be seen from the final by looking east over the track field.
Amendment 21
Repeal of Prohibition
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
The Twenty-First Amendment (ratified in 1933) is the only one that repeals a previous amendment, the Eighteenth Amendment. In addition, it is the only amendment which was ratified, not by the legislatures of the states, but by state ratifying conventions, as called for by the Amendment’s third section.
The tide turning against Prohibition after 14 years is probably mainly due to the realization by many citizens that the noble idea of Prohibition had been a failed experiment. Prohibition did reduce the rate of alcoholism and ameliorated some of the evils associated with alcohol consumption and addiction, but the benefits did not outweigh the harm done by the flourishing of organized crime.
The inability or unwillingness of law enforcement agencies at every level to stop the sale and consumption of intoxicating liquors resulted in a black market and alcohol being easily available to anyone who wanted it. The Anti-Saloon League had successfully closed the saloons but this only gave rise to the “speakeasy.” Prohibition was a great boon to the Mob, who loved Prohibition almost as much as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union did. Organized crime syndicates used profits from illegal liquor to corrupt police and increase the trafficking of other illegal substances. Widespread flouting of Prohibition laws undermined respect for the law in general and encouraged an attitude of contempt for rightful authority. The public was appalled at all this and so support for the repeal of Prohibition grew.
Our unique Constitution and Bill of Rights is what protects us from a government that might put its own desire for power before the needs of its citizens. How well do you know your Bill of Rights? Fill in the answers to get the final coordinates.
N 32° 1A.8BC
W 111 1.DEF
A = Protects citizens from being forced to quarter soldiers in their home in a time of war.
B = Bars the government from imposing excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments.
C = Reserves individuals’ rights to jury trial depending on the civil case, and cases already examined may not be re-opened by another court.
D = It is said that this amendment is the one amendment that protects all the others.
E = “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." ― Harry S. Truman, Special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, 1950
F = In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.
Checker: Add up all the answers (A+B+C+D+E+F) and you should get 27.
Sources: constitutioncenter.org, brainyquote.com