the temperance movement

   The "temperance movement" refers, in a general way,  to the campaign to ban alcohol in the United States, in the late 19th and early 20th century ( late 1800's and early 1900's ). The "Anti-Saloon League" was a part of this campaign, as was Carrie Nation--the woman who reportedly walked into saloons with an axe, meaning to chop up the bar. Proponents of temperance were sure that banning alcohol would solve a lot of the problems of poverty, as it seemed to them that too many breadwinners spent their weekly pay in saloons, instead of on rent and groceries. The appeals for relief of their destitute wives and children inspired the  movement for temperance.
     The temperance movement succeeded in banning alcohol, in 1918, with the famous "Volstead Act", and an amendment to the constitution. The years, sometimes called "dry years" when alcohol was illegal are called "prohibition", for the prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition is also called the "Noble Experiment", meaning it had good intentions. The experiment didn't work. We need the consent of 3/4 of the states to amend the constitution, so we might assume that the law had a lot of popular support, but the majority of the population ignored or flouted it. Anyone who had been spending his paycheck at a saloon now spent it at a speakeasy.       
     Worse than failing to improve conditions among the poor, illegal distribution of alcohol supposedly gave organized crime a boost that made it something of a national institution. The prohibition of alcohol was repealed ( with another constitutional amendment ) in 1932--the "Happy Days Are Here Again" year.

bootlegging

     The original "bootleggers" sold alcohol when alcohol was illegal in the United States, in the 1920's. A bottle of alcohol would fit in the smuggler's boot, supposedly--hence the name "bootlegger". Bootleggers were very popular with most people. Although a percentage of voters large enough to amend the U.S. Constitution voted for prohibition ( the prohibition of alcohol ), many people broke the law by patronizing bootleggers and visiting "speakeasies" ( illegal bars ). According to the informal history of the prohibition era ( 1918-1932 ), there were more speakeasies than there had been bars, and more people visited them.  Prohibition is also credited with the rise of organized crime in America. There was crime before prohibition, of course, but bootlegging or "rum running"  ( smuggling alcohol from Canada or another foreign country ) made the criminals popular among otherwise law-abiding citizens, leaving a legacy of  "the noble experiment" that we may still be living with today.