Temperance+Movement-+Sharry.Barton.Hecker

toc  Temperance Movement  //During the 1800 and 1900's, the temperance movement was an organized attempt to moderate and ultimately eliminate the consumption of alcoholic beverages.// = =

==Historical Forces  == // Alcohol was destroying the American family because of drunken fathers and husbands. Previous to the movement, it was very difficult to keep beverages fresh and drinkable, so alcohol became a common drink. The necessary water and milk, for children especially, were very hard to keep fresh so even young kids had to turn to alcohol for refreshment. Alcohol was very common at social gatherings and also made a many appearances on ships carrying colonists from Europe, so everyone was exposed to it. After some time, alcohol not only became a common beverage, but also one of the main commercial goods (whiskey). ////

Drinking excessive alcohol was an everyday occurrence in the early 1800's. Beverages such as cider, beer, and wine were the drink of choice for most Americans. In fact, some workers were //paid //in alcohol as part of their wage. Water was not always available, but due to the agricultural geography of the land at that time, apple groves provided fermented apple cider by the gallon-full. Due to this beverage fiasco, many Americans were drinking cider or other alcoholic beverages with their meals and when they were thirsty. Not only was water not always available, but Americans believed that alcohol had restorative and medicinal properties. Bourbon with breakfast, liquor with lunch, nips for naps and the occasional digestive problem, alcohol could just do it all. Liquor was also quite important in the social aspect of American culture. Horace Greeley, who grew up in rural Vermont, recalled, "In my childhood there was no merry-making, there was no entertainment of relatives or friends, there was scarcely a casual gathering of two or three neighbors for an evening's social chat, without strong drink."The consumption of alcohol really spiked when whiskey dropped to 25 cents a gallon. This made way for the unbelievable average of Americans drinking seven gallons of alcohol a year.//

// The first people who began to worry about the consumption of alcohol were the evangelical Protestants. After the War of 1812, the movement began to attract other supporters as well. Some of these groups were Presbyterians, Quakers, Western Methodists, and many other groups where social morals played a major role. The lower class groups, like the Connecticut Society for the Reformation of Morals, focused mainly on saving one another's family harmony and individual conscience. On the other hand, the upper class groups of this time period looked at the movement in a different way. They made more of an effort to reduce the consumption level in the lower classes, they claimed this is was to help 'maintain social order and reduce crime. '//  //The Eighteenth Amendment was created to prohibit the use of alcohol on all levels, including sale, transport, exporting/importing, as well as manufacture of the beverage. This law went into effect in January of 1920 and was a stable for about 13 years. Needless to say, not everyone felt they were inclined to follow these laws and illegal behavior continued to occur. The demand for alcohol did not die down during this time, so smuggling, bootlegging, and other criminal acts still took place. Although there were people who did not approve of this law, there was also the vast majority who helped the movement grow. Drinking habits changed drastically during this time period, and the Temperance Movement lead to a substantial decline in alcohol related accidents.//
 * Eighteenth Amendment **

**Health Risk**
// One of the first concerns about alcohol use as a health risk, was very drastic. In nighteenth century England, doctors referred to these health risks as "delirium tremens." The possible side effects of the prolonged drinking of hard alcohol were violent restlessness, hallucinations, as well as other severe effects. After more research, doctors began to see that alcohol can serevely effect ones liver, and that alcohol abuse was actually a form of "disease." These doctors assumed this disease was "degenerative," and they were not far off. This type of knowledge is very similar to that of doctors today. While there were doctors in England, France, and a few other countries who had a great deal of knowledge about alcohol abuse. A lot of other areas were less educated, making the knowledge of alcohol abuse as a health issue varied throughout the world. //

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**Publicity Methods of Temperance Groups ** ===== //Temperance groups circulated pamphlets and periodicals expressing the dangers of alcohol use. They also held boycotts in areas where alcohol was sold, such as pubs, saloons and taverns. Temperance groups also sent missionaries and lecturers to churches across the country. The missionaries would preach sermons to people, in effort to encourage the abstinence of alcohol.//

**Washingtonianism**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//A national enthusiasm that encouraged drunken men to give up alcohol and remove themselves from alcohol focused organizations.// //Although they did not last long, they worked more with the lower and middle classes; The American Temperance Society was more elitist. Washingtonianism groups were not organized as centrally as the other groups. The reason they had trouble surviving was because they wanted to completely dry the country of alcohol. This too extreme of a change for American citizens to handle during the time period.//

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**The Sons of Temperance**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**"No brother shall make, buy, sell or use as a beverage any spirituous or malt liquors wine or cider**." //The 1840's brought the next major group of temperance//. //The Sons of Temperance were fairly exclusive; however, they still spread. Unlike most other groups the Sons of Temperance required new members to be nominated by an existing member and there was a membership fee of two dollars. The group was very private having secret handshakes, passwords, signs and rituals. Acting as an insurance company its constitution required the members or the brotherhood to pay thirty dollars to pay for the burial of any dead member. They also required them to pay fifteen dollars for the burial of the wife of a member. In its late years the organization admitted women. By the 1850's it had 5,000 chapters.//

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**The American Temperance Society/The American Temperance Union**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">// The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance which was created in New England during 1826. The society was the first official organization, lead by elite men; however women were permitted to join. By 1834, the society was boasting a national membership of one million. Pamphlets full of pleas for temperance and for boycotts of grogshops and taverns, as well as stories of drunken depravity, were dispersed throughout America. ////In the 1830's the American Temperance Union took control of the American Temperance Society. The union pledged total abstinence, which was so extreme that it caused a decrease in supporters. New York and New England were not effected and continued to be the strongest followers.//

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Neal S. Dow (1804-1897) ** ==== <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//He was known as the "Father of Prohibition" and the "Napoleon of Temperance." Dow was a prohibitionist mayor in Portland, Maine, and he supported the Maine Law of 1851. The Maine Law of 1851 prohibitted the sale and producing of alcohol. Other Northern states and cities adapted the Maine Law in the 1850's.//

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Frances Willard (1839-1898) ** ==== <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Willard was an American educator and Women's Rights activist, she also played a major role in the Temperance Movement. Willard was chosen secretary of a temperance organization in Chicago, and she also assisted in organizing the convention of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). She was elected president of the Ilinois WCTU and began campaigning for more temperance laws. Willard attempted to pass a law allowing women to vote on the liquor question in Illinois; however, she did not succeed. She took a break from being a part of organized groups of temperance, but that did not keep her away for long. Willard was then chosen as national correspondent secretary for the WCTU. She wanted the WCTU to help reform issues other than just alcohol, but the WCTU's president, Annie Wittenmyer, opposed the idea. Willard was in financial debt, but that did not stop her from wanting reform. She was elected president of the WCTU, holding the position until her death in 1898. Willard expanded the group from mainly religious women to a variety of members. Overall, she changed the organization for the better. She made the annual conventions run more smoothly, more publicized, and more inspiring. Willard also made relationships with other organizations.//

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Carry A. Nation (1846-1911) ** ==== <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Nation was a southern reformer of temperance. She established the local Women's Christian Temperance Union in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Although Kansas had voted for prohibition in 1880 many saloon keepers ignored the law. This strong woman dressed in black and white clothing would charge into bars and dismantle her surroundings. She attacked initially using rocks and bricks; however, she eventually graduated to using a hatchet. Nation would walk into a bar and start preaching God's word by singing or reciting prayers. After this, she would break bar fixtures and cause a major disruption. One time, she even invaded the governor's chamber at Topeka. She was put in prison many times for her actions, but paid her fines by giving lectures and selling weapons. She was also physically assualted often. //

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) ** ==== <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">In 1879. Frances Willard became the president of WCTU and as well as leading through education and example, she also turned the group into a political powerhouse. Willard stated that if women were going to revolt against alcohol abuse, they should have the right to vote as well. THe WCTU connected the Temperance Movement and the movement for Women's Rights, in a massive effort to revolt against female discrimination, as well as assisting the abstinence of alcohol cause. //

==<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Success of The Movement <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> == <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The movement lasted from the 1820's until 1966. Although in 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act which allowed the manufacturing and sale of some alcoholic beverages, some states didn't lift prohibition until 1966. During tough times such as the Civil War and the Great Depression the movement lost a lot of momentum and followers. It ultimately came to an end during the Great Depression. Even though the temperance movement changed the views of many, it didn't have an everlasting effect on society. The Temperance Movement continued through the later part of the ninteenth century/early twentieth century. During this time, Temperance leaders became more involved with political affairs, and in 1919 the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was put in place. This amendment prohibitted the the production and sale of alcohol in the US. This act stayed in place until 1933 when the 21st Amendment was created. This amendment repealed the 18th amendment regarding alochol. After the passing of the amendment, Temperance organizations and movements lost popularity and therefore decreased in power.//

media type="youtube" key="NQo6sxH06j0" height="385" width="480"

This video shows how the Temperance Movement's success wasn't great.

====**<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">__BIBLIOGRAPHY__ - "Frances Willard." <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> DISCovering World History. 2003. <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> History Resource Center: U.S. Web. 23 May 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/ History/ >. - Gusfield, Joseph R. "Alcohol and Crime: The Prohibition Experiment." <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Encyclopedia Of Crime and Justice. 2002. <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Global Issues in Context. Web. 18 May 2010. - Kutler, Stanley I. "Alcohol, Regulation f." <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Dictionary of American History. 3rd ed. 2003. <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> History Resource Center: U.S. Web. 21 May 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/ >. **====

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