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temperance movement during the antebellum era
temperance movement during the antebellum era
temperance movement during the antebellum era
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The desire to control alcohol consumption, or advocate temperance, has been a goal of humanity throughout countless periods of history. Many countries have had organized temperance movements, including Australia, Canada, Britain, Denmark, Poland, and of course, the United States. The American temperance movement was the most widespread reform movement of the 19th century, culminating in laws that completely banned the sale of all alcoholic beverages. The movement progressed from its humble local roots to nationwide organizations with millions of members and large amounts of political power. The growth of the temperance movement resulted from the changes in society between the original American settlers and the post-Revolutionary War citizens. The Revolutionary War is the catalyst for the movement, and the new society that emerges out of it is the cause of the development of the American temperance movement. If one was to look at colonial America with no knowledge of the future, the thought of millions of people promoting alcohol regulation and abstinence would be unimaginable. As hard as it is to assign general characteristics to colonial America, it is clearly evident that alcoholic beverages were extensive in consumption, to the point where they were among the main forms of liquid nourishment. It was so extensive that "Estimates for 1790, at the end of the colonial period, place per capita consumption of absolute alcohol (the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages) at three gallons, about one and a half times the amount of per capita consumption in the United States today. Despite staggering consumption rate, the relatively high level of per capita consumption failed to produce widespread concern about drinking. The ... ... middle of paper ... ...e years between Colonial America and Post-Revolutionary United States changed American society greatly, especially in the attitude towards alcohol. The temperance movement took advantage of these changes, and spread throughout the states rapidly. The movement became one of the largest reform movements in history, changing the lives of millions of Americans and altering the course of American history from that point forward. Bibliography American Temperance Society. "Permanent Temperance Documents of the American Temperance Society". New York, Arno Press, 1972. Blocker, Jack S. "American Temperance Movements: Cycles of Reform". Boston : Twayne Publishers, c1989 Ezell, Marcel D. "Early Attitudes toward Alcoholic Beverages in the South" Red River Valley Historical Review 7, 1982. Nott, Eliphalet. "Lectures on Temperance". New York : Sheldon, Blakeman, 1857
Most people point to wars, Presidents or the economy when asked to describe the history of the United States, but what about alcohol. Social history in general has always taken a back seat to political and economic history, mostly because many aspects of social history are not exactly bright spots from the past. Alcohol, for example, is actually a much bigger aspect of our history than one may expect. As a matter of fact, early America was centered around drinking as a kind of social event. William Rorabaugh’s book Alcoholic Republic outlines how prevalent drinking really was during the years after the Revolutionary War. Rorabaugh argues that post-colonial Americans should be considered alcoholics. However, the evidence Rorabaugh uses
Enacting prohibition in a culture so immersed in alcohol as America was not easy. American had long been a nation of strong social drinkers with a strong feeling towards personal freedom. As Okrent remarks, “George Washington had a still on his farm. James Madison downed a pint of whiskey a day”. This was an era when drinking liquor on ships was far safer than the stale scummy water aboard, and it was common fo...
Did you know that in the 1920s the American government poisoned alcoholic beverages to stop excessive use of it from the consumers? Of course, this happened during Prohibition which was the America government’s attempt to stop and illegalize the manufacture and marketing of beer. Surprisingly, Prohibition lasted from 1920 until 1933.Throughout the prohibition period, many famous and infamous leaders rose, such as Alphonse Capone, Carry Nation, and Adolphus Busch. Expectedly the use of alcohol during the 1920s caused strong and respectable men to become diverted dull and to be extremely abusive to their spouse and children; therefore causing it to be a necessity to be abolished in the eyes of the American government. “We Sang Rock of Ages”: Frances Willard’s Battles Alcohol in the late 19th century is a selection from an autobiography by Frances Willard in which it provided detailed report of her experience participating in a temperance movement. Frances Willard’s literary piece uplifts the idea of humane purity against foul and slow working toxins that are capable of corrupting the most innocent kind of men, and stresses the importance for men to not be pressured to follow the crowd. Frances Willard’s “We Sang Rock of Ages” essay indicated the temperance movement’s pursuit to heal social morals, abolish the excessive use of alcohol, and target slaves of alcohol to turn to God through prayer as well as song.
After the influx of anti-alcohol propaganda flooded America, society instantly painted alcohol as the worst thing to strike America. Society at the time became incredibly vulnerable to false information mixed in with credible information. Since the temperance movement took the form of an epidemic striking America, a form of panic ensued amongst society. People were naturally attracted to the new idea of temperance which opened the door for manipulation of the truth behind alcohol consumption. In return, this provided an opportunity for temperance to spread not only throughout America, but the rest of the world as
Aaron, Paul and Musto, David, Temperance and Prohibition in America: A Historical Overview. In: Moore, Mark H., and Gerstain, Dean R. (eds) Alcohol and Public Policy: Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1981. Pp 127-181.
The Temperance Movement was aimed to promote abstinence from alcohol, to criticize those who consumed alcohol, and political influence was often used as well. It focused on abolishing alcohol consumption completely. Political influence was important because it led to laws that limited and regulated alcohol that eventually led to prohibition. “Temperance reformers typically were evangelical Protestants who regarded alcoholic beverages as harmful and even sinful for the individual drinker and for society at large. Supposedly, drink destroyed families and reputations and brought about poverty, disorder, and crime.” (Fahey, 2013) This movement stated that alcohol was dangerous for everyone. They believed that all individuals who drank would lose control of their drinking habits and would start encountering problems as a result of drinking. The Temperance Movement was just the beginning of what would eventually become the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States. The movement was be...
Many Americans continued to drink and partake in illegal activity surrounding alcohol. Mark Thornton, assistant professor of Economics at Auburn University, implies that since wines and other alcoholic beverages were distilled and fortifies, many American "men were drinking defiantly, with a sense of high purpose, a kind of dedicated drinking that you don't see much of today" (Thornton 4). With defiance came the difficulty to enforce prohibition rules and regulations. As a whole, enforcing prohibition was effortless in rural areas, where people had little to no access to cities and shops that provided them with alcohol. However, in the cities, people had plenty of advantages to buy and distribute alcohol
After the American Revolution, drinking was on the rise. To combat this, a number of societies were organized as part of a new Temperance movement which attempted to dissuade people from becoming intoxicated. At first, these organizations pushed moderation, but after several decades, the movement's focus changed to complete prohibition of alcohol consumption. (Brayton)
Tavern culture was complicated and chaotic. Drunkenness and debauchery were common as well as crime such as prostitution, yet these same places formed the foundation of public discussion and thought. For all the variety of functions urban colonial taverns served, the one constant in all of them was the presence of alcohol. Colonists of every sort, size, and age, including children, drank often and in quantity. The distilled liquors of the time, such as rum and rye whiskey, averaged 45% alcohol, or 90 proof. (Keating, Aaron Man Full of Trouble, 2013;
It was the late 19th century when a lot of conflict for families from the Industrial Revolution and illegal drugs had easy access to anyone in the United Sates. These illegal drugs like morphine, cocaine, and alcohol were available through manufacture, delivery, and selling. It was proved that the over use of alcohol and violence in families’ homes were linked together around the 1850’s and that women and children were being abused by the father and husband from the letters and journals that were wrote. These were times when women were stay at home mothers and it was the man’s responsibility to be the provider for the wife and children. Because of the abuse in the household it led up to the temperance movement. The purpose
What was the purpose of the Temperance Movement and Prohibition on alcohol? The Temperance Movement was an anti-alcohol movement. The Temperance Movement took place back in the early 20th century. The Christian abolitionists who fought slavery also prayed to the same God to end the scourge of alcohol. The purpose of the Temperance Movement was to try to abolish alcohol in the early 1900’s. “’We Sang Rock of Ages‘: Frances Willard Battles Alcohol in the late 19th Century” (Willard). The author the of literary piece is Frances Willard and the literary piece is an autobiography. America should get rid of alcohol because it ruins lives along with the family of that person who is an alcoholic. The article “’We Sang Rock of Ages’: Frances Willard Battles Alcohol in the late 19th Century” (Willard) reflects the temperance movement and the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920’s by banning the use of alcohol for any use other then medical use.
Many may say that the Antebellum Temperance Movement was primarily motivated by religious moralism. I tend to take that stance as well. The Antebellum Temperance Movement of the 18th century was focused around the idea that people, mostly men, should abstain from alcohol if they could not drink the spirits in moderation. In this era, many women had suffered greatly because their loved ones would imbibe excessively leaving them short on money, food, and even shelter which left many impoverished and unable to care for their families. Additionally, the excessive consumption of alcohol led to health care issues, crime and in the end, destitution. The first author, W.J. Rorabaugh, is a proponent on the side of how Christian ministers, “portrayed liquor as the tool of the devil and develop temperance societies as socialization institutions to ease social tensions and anxieties that contributed to alcohol consumption,” (Madaras, L.; SoRelle, J. Pg. 256) Appositionally, John J. Rumbarger opposes by stating that, “the nineteenth–century temperance reform was the product of the pro-capitalist market economy whose entrepreneurial elite led the way toward abstinence and prohibitionist campaigns. In order to guarantee the availability for a more productive workforce,” (Madaras, L.; SoRelle, J. Pg. 256). I agree with W.J. Rorabaugh that during the Antebellum Temperance Movement, the church’s played an enormous role in prohibiting alcohol consumption because it was the “tool of the devil”.
Carlson, Peter. American History. Des Moines: Cowles Enthusiast Media, 2008. Vol. 43 of “Uneasy about Alcohol” eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Warsh, Cheryl Krasnick. ""John Barleycorn Must Die": An Introduction to the Social History of Alcohol ." In Drink in Canada: Historical Essays , by Cheryl Karsnick Warsh, 3-26. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993. (SUNY Stony Brook HV 5306.D75 1993)
The prohibition on alcohol seemed to achieve more success than the temperance movement of the previous century because the prohibition was a political movement, prohibiting the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. On the other hand the Temperance movement was more of a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The temperance movement was based on opinions, people’s beliefs and even religion. The temperance movement was a temporary fix because for example, Carrie Nation started the hatchet movement, in which she and hundreds of women and some men went around to towns in Kansas and destroyed saloon after saloon. Carrie Nation hoped her movement would spread across the country and swipe away all the saloons in the country but instead it died out and saloon owners just rebuild and repaired their businesses and continued to sell alcohol. Another example is the Women’s Crusade were women across the country would pray in front of the saloons hoping the owners would shut their businesses down, but that didn’t affect the owners sell of alcohol nor the customers