Final answer:
Support for Prohibition was strongest in rural, Protestant areas and was led by temperance movements such as the Anti-Saloon League. Political divisions and reluctant enforcement characterized the era. Although the law aimed to curb alcohol, it ironically encouraged moonshine production in 'dry' counties.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prohibition and Its Sociopolitical Context
Support for the prohibition of liquor was strongest in the provincial, largely rural, Protestant-dominated areas. This support was fueled by the nationwide temperance movement, with strong roots in the Progressive Movement and the Social Gospel Movement.
The Anti-Saloon League played a pivotal role in advocating for prohibition and swaying political support, which by 1916, had resulted in 26 states outlawing alcohol. The passage of Prohibition laws also reflected the political landscape, wherein the Democratic Party was torn between the urban 'wets' and rural 'dries', leading to political ascendency for the Republicans during the 1920s.
Distilling the spirit of the era, Maine enacted the first statewide prohibition law in 1851, reflecting a national trend that would crescendo into the 18th Amendment: the constitutional prohibition of alcohol.
Despite these efforts, enforcement of Prohibition laws was lax due to political leaders' reluctance to fund the necessary enforcement measures. This reluctance was partly due to the divided stance of politicians who had to cater to both sides of the Prohibition argument for political expediency, as figures such as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt demonstrated.
Nonetheless, this fight against alcohol also led to the unintended consequence of encouraging the illicit production of moonshine, especially in areas like the South and Appalachia, where 'dry' counties promoted bootlegging. The anti-liquor stance of politically dominant Protestant groups in these regions, such as Baptists, Pentecostals, and Methodists, continued to influence local laws into modern times, thereby maintaining an ironic and profitable status quo for moonshiners.