Prohibition

It's been called the "boob tube", a vast wasteland, or the "idiot box".
But sometimes, television transcends those derogatory labels and becomes a tool of enlightenment and education. Tonight Public Television premiers the new Ken Burns and Lynn Novick film titled Prohibition.

If you've seen their Civil War series you know the depth that this film-making team bring to a topic.

I plan on watching all 5½ hours of this one. I want to know how the Temperance movement gathered enough steam to amend the Constitution. More importantly, how was that situation reversed?

I'm hoping it may shed some light on the current state of affairs with the "War on Stuff that about half the population uses regularly".
The question that I've had for years, was the prior generation smarter than us, or did they have more backbone? Or both?