Prohibition DBQ

This worksheet helps students in Grades 5 and 6 strengthen historical reasoning, primary-source analysis, and evidence-based writing by examining three documents from the Prohibition era: an excerpt from the 18th Amendment, a temperance supporter’s letter, and a 1928 newspaper report. Students answer targeted questions for each document and then write a mini-DBQ paragraph using evidence from at least two sources to argue whether Prohibition was doomed to fail.

Learning Goals

• Analysis of Primary Source Documents (Grades 5-6) – Students interpret viewpoints, purpose, and claims within historical texts.
• Evidence-Based Historical Argumentation – Learners synthesize information from multiple sources to support a historical claim.
• Constructed Response Writing – The activity emphasizes clear, complete sentences and logical organization.
• Understanding the Social Impact of Prohibition – Students examine how Prohibition affected society, culture, and public attitudes.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper-elementary ELA and social studies standards.
• Promotes Sourcing and Contextualization – Students consider author perspective, audience, and historical context.
• Supports Historical Thinking Skills – Encourages analysis, synthesis, and argumentation based on evidence.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Ideal for DBQ practice, independent work, small-group analysis, or assessment.
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready for classroom or homeschool use with minimal preparation.

This Prohibition DBQ worksheet helps students practice interpreting primary sources and constructing evidence-based historical arguments. By analyzing multiple perspectives and synthesizing information into a mini-DBQ paragraph, learners strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and writing skills while deepening their understanding of the Prohibition era.

This worksheet is part of our Prohibition Era Worksheets collection.