1. Temperance and Prohibition
Zach Morris and Liam Haeffele
Backstrom Period 3
“Wine is from God, but the Drunkard is from the Devil.”
-Increase Mather, Puritan clergyman, Wo to Drunkards, 1673

2. Overview
The temperance Movement was an attempt by the American Temperance Society (ATS) and others to eliminate alcohol from american society. The movement began in the late 1820s and gained strength throughout the rest of the nineteenth century until the Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s.

3. The Issue
Alcohol was not regarded as a problem until the Second Great Awakening. Before, it was a release from stress and nothing more. But, midway through the 1820s some suspected that alcohol was responsible for many problems in society, particularly domestic violence. The average adult male was consuming up to seven gallons of pure alcohol a year- that's around 140 gallons of beer (assuming 5% alcohol). The Temperance Movement called for controls on alcohol, similar to the controls Washington State has on marijuana today. Eventually, the Temperance Movement switched their focus from moderation to abstinence, and called for the complete prohibition of Alcohol.

4. Temperance Leaders
Carrie Nation: Prohibitionist known for smashing saloon property with her hatchet
John B. Gough: A reformed alcoholic who dedicated his life to spreading the word about Temperance
Frances Willard: President of the national Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and founder of the global WCTU

5. Response: Pro Prohibition
The support came from the wives of alcoholics, religious leaders, and large scale business owners. Having a drunk husband was often ruinous to a family’s prosperity, inviting domestic violence and economic issues. Protestant religious leaders were against drinking because it was something encouraged by Catholic immigrants. Factory owners became increasingly displeased with the amount of drink consumed by the working class, considering that Monday became “Blue Monday,” because no work was done because of how drunk the workers were.

6. Response: Anti Prohibition
The main opposition came from those who profited from alcohol, such as brewers and liquor companies. Additional opposition came from the working class, who enjoyed alcoholic beverages as a release. Many of these people were immigrants who brought drinking habits with them from their home country, such as the Irish, and many Germans made their way creating and selling the substance to immigrants. However, few were highly passionate in their defense of alcohol before 1920, the actual prohibition of alcohol. During Prohibition, people were actively going against the law, creating and selling liquor.

7. Legacy
The Temperance Movement of the middle 1800s accomplished the prohibition of alcohol only in Maine, however it was later revived as the Prohibition Movement in the 1910s, leading to a complete nation-wide ban on all liqueur from But even criminalizing alcohol consumption had little effect, the common worker still drank the same amount of alcohol as before Prohibition, they were simply imprisoned if they were caught. This also increased violence among groups controlling liquor, however after the ban was repealed, it restrictions still existed, but varied from state to state, and the average amount of alcohol consumed has been greatly reduced.

8. Reflection
Zach: It seemed like an interesting topic because it's weird to think that such a common item was once banned. I think that this topic is very relatable with the current situation with other controlled substances, and it shows that the government has a hard time instilling morals into the people using the law.
Liam: Temperance was important to me because I think it’s incredible that alcohol was illegal at one time and I wanted to know more about how that came to be. What was scary was that many prohibitionists were supporters because they associated alcohol with Irish immigrants, whom they despised.

9. Bibliography
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005.
American Social Reform Movements Reference Library. Ed. Carol Brennan, Kathleen J. Edgar, Judy Galens, and Roger Matuz. Vol. 2: Almanac. Detroit: UXL, p
Kennedy, David M., and Lizbeth Cohen. The American Pageant.
Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America. Ed. Gary S. Cross. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, P
Encyclopedia of Politics. Ed. Rodney P. Carlisle. Vol. 2: The Right. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, P
About Education. womenshistory.about.com/od/temperance/.