 In a backlash to the changing demographics, many prohibitionists embraced nativism, fostering further resentment toward immigrants who, typically due to cultural differences about drinking, were against prohibition.After a highly contentious debate on prohibition, in 1907, the Illinois General Assembly approved the "local option" law, which allowed local residents to decide whether their towns would be "wet" (allowing liquor sales within the boundaries of individual counties and townships), or to otherwise be "dry.