A local option is the ability of local political jurisdictions, typically counties or municipalities , to allow decisions on certain controversial issues within their borders, usually referring to a popular vote. It usually relates to the issue of alcoholic beverage , marijuana sales, and now mask wearing.
152-490: As described by an encyclopedia in 1907, local option is the "license granted to the inhabitants of a district to extinguish or reduce the sale of intoxicants in their midst." A 1911 Encyclopædia describes it as "specifically used in politics of the power given to the electorate of a particular district to choose whether licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor should be granted or not." This form of "local option" has also been termed "local veto." Local option regarding alcohol
304-518: A " sin tax " would raise public awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol. The whiskey tax was repealed after Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party , which opposed the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton , came to power in 1800. Benjamin Rush , one of the foremost physicians of the late 18th century, believed in moderation rather than prohibition. In his treatise, "The Inquiry into
456-582: A battle for public morals and health. The movement was taken up by progressives in the Prohibition , Democratic , and Republican parties, and gained a national grassroots base through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union . After 1900, it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League . Opposition from the beer industry mobilized "wet" supporters from the wealthy Catholic and German Lutheran communities, but
608-519: A book "The Simplicity of Health", which strongly condemned the use of alcohol and tobacco, and the untempered consumption of meat, similar to the provisions in the Word of Wisdom revealed three years later. This gave publicity to the movement and Temperance Societies began to form. On February 1, 1833, a few weeks before the Word of Wisdom was published, all distilleries in the Kirtland area were shut down. During
760-570: A breeding ground for political corruption . Most economists during the early 20th century were in favor of the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition). Simon Patten , one of the leading advocates for prohibition, predicted that prohibition would eventually happen in the United States for competitive and evolutionary reasons. Yale economics professor Irving Fisher , who was a dry, wrote extensively about prohibition, including
912-440: A decade, other temperance groups had formed in eight states, some of them being statewide organizations. The words of Rush and other early temperance reformers served to dichotomize the use of alcohol for men and women. While men enjoyed drinking and often considered it vital to their health, women who began to embrace the ideology of "true motherhood" refrained from the consumption of alcohol. Middle-class women, who were considered
1064-532: A dry sentiment leading to prohibition. Frances Willard , the second president of the WCTU, held that the aims of the organization were to create a "union of women from all denominations, for the purpose of educating the young, forming a better public sentiment, reforming the drinking classes, transforming by the power of Divine grace those who are enslaved by alcohol, and removing the dram-shop from our streets by law". While still denied universal voting privileges, women in
1216-481: A loss of 11 billion dollars for the US. Furthermore, enforcement of the alcohol ban was an expensive undertaking for the government. Because the Eighteenth Amendment did not prohibit consumption, but only manufacture, distribution and sale, illegal consumption became commonplace. Illegal production of alcohol rose, and a thousand people per year died of alcohol that was illegally produced with little quality control. Bootlegging
1368-611: A method of alcohol control, made a resurgence after the Civil War. The Anti-Saloon League initially decided to use local option as the mechanism to bring about nationwide prohibition. Its intent was to work across the country at the local level. In many instances, however, it was not the agenda. For instance, several wards in Ontario , Canada , passed local option but were vehemently against province-wide prohibition since they preferred to isolate alcohol sales, rather than ban them altogether. That
1520-501: A paper that made an economic case for prohibition. Fisher is credited with supplying the criteria against which future prohibitions, such as against marijuana , could be measured, in terms of crime, health, and productivity. For example, " Blue Monday " referred to the hangover workers experienced after a weekend of binge drinking , resulting in Mondays being a wasted productive day. But new research has discredited Fisher's research, which
1672-544: A preacher, James Springer White , who did not use alcohol or tobacco. Ellen preached healthful living to her followers, without specifying abstinence from alcohol, as most of her followers were temperance followers, and abstinence would have been implied. As a response to rising social problems in urbanized areas, a stricter form of temperance emerged called teetotalism , which promoted the complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages, this time including wine and beer, not just ardent spirits. The term teetotaler came from
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#17330934737181824-466: A requirement for the Latter Day Saints to comply would cause division in the church. In Harry M. Beardsley's book Joseph Smith and his Mormon Empire , Beardsley argues that some Mormon historians attempted to portray Smith as a teetotaler, but according to the testimonies of his contemporaries, he often drank alcohol in his own home or the homes of his friends in Kirtland. In Nauvoo, Illinois, Smith
1976-456: A safe place to reform and learn to practice total abstinence while receiving food and shelter. These movements emphasized sympathy over coercion, yet unlike the Washingtonian movements, emphasized helplessness as well with relief from their addictions as a result from seeking the grace of God. As an expression of moralism , the membership of the temperance movement overlapped with that of
2128-522: A seminary in Massachusetts to write articles about abstinence from alcohol to use in preaching to their congregations. The Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance (MSSI) was formed in 1813. The organization only accepted men of high social standing and encouraged moderation in alcohol consumption. Its peak of influence was in 1818, and it ended in 1820, having made no significant mark on
2280-525: A similarly low alcohol content. On December 5, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. However, United States federal law still prohibits the manufacture of distilled spirits without meeting numerous licensing requirements that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal use. Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been a contentious topic in America since
2432-520: A year throughout the 1920s, and Prohibition Commissioner John F. Kramer even cited one doctor who wrote 475 prescriptions for whiskey in one day. It wasn't tough for people to write—and fill—counterfeit subscriptions at pharmacies, either. Naturally, bootleggers bought prescription forms from crooked doctors and mounted widespread scams. In 1931, 400 pharmacists and 1,000 doctors were caught in a scam where doctors sold signed prescription forms to bootleggers. Just 12 doctors and 13 pharmacists were indicted, and
2584-521: Is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 60 types of diseases and injuries. Alcohol is estimated to cause about 20–30% of cases of esophageal cancer, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, epilepsy and motor vehicle accidents. After the American Revolution , Rush called upon ministers of various churches to act in preaching the messages of temperance. However, abstinence messages were largely ignored by Americans until
2736-578: Is as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a humming-bird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail." At the same time, songs emerged decrying the act. After Edward, Prince of Wales , returned to the United Kingdom following his tour of Canada in 1919, he recounted to his father, King George V , a ditty he had heard at a border town: Four and twenty Yankees, feeling very dry, Went across
2888-423: Is difficult to draw conclusions about Prohibition's effect on crime at the national level. Prohibition had a negative effect on the economy by eliminating jobs dedicated to the then-fifth largest industry in the United States. Support for Prohibition diminished steadily throughout its duration, including among former supporters of Prohibition. On November 18, 1918, prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment,
3040-586: Is generally less politically influential than it was in the early 20th century. Its efforts today include disseminating research regarding alcohol and health, in addition to its effects on society and the family unit. Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages . The alcohol industry
3192-413: Is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol ... [Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible." Another lethal substance that
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#17330934737183344-466: Is particularly evident in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood, part of which remained notoriously dry as late as 2000, the last area of Ontario to repeal prohibition. Following the repeal of federal Prohibition in the United States in 1933, some states chose to maintain prohibition within their own borders. Others chose to permit local option on the controversial issue. In the remainder of states, there
3496-557: The Anti-Saloon League superseding the Prohibition Party and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union as the most influential advocate of prohibition, after these latter two groups expanded their efforts to support other social reform issues, such as women's suffrage , onto their prohibition platform. Prohibition was an important force in state and local politics from the 1840s through the 1930s. Numerous historical studies demonstrated that
3648-578: The Irish priest Theobald Mathew established the Teetotal Abstinence Society in 1838. In 1838, the mass working class movement for universal suffrage for men, Chartism , included a current called "temperance chartism". Faced with the refusal of the Parliament of the time to give the right to vote to working people, the temperance chartists saw the campaign against alcohol as a way of proving to
3800-573: The Latter-day Saints . These religious groups identified saloons as politically corrupt and drinking as a personal sin. Other active organizations included the Women's Church Federation, the Women's Temperance Crusade, and the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction. They were opposed by the wets, primarily liturgical Protestants ( Episcopalians and German Lutherans) and Catholics , who denounced
3952-671: The Maspee Indians on 11 October 1833. Out of the religious revival and reform appeared the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Seventh-day Adventism , new Christian denominations that established criteria for healthy living as a part of their religious teachings, namely temperance. The Word of Wisdom is a health code followed by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint denominations which advises how to maintain good health: what one should do and what one should abstain from. One of
4104-654: The National Prohibition Act , which stipulated how the federal government should enforce the amendment. National prohibition was proposed several times in New Zealand as well, and nearly successful. On a similar note, Australian states and New Zealand introduced restrictive early closing times for bars during and immediately after the First World War. In Canada , in 1916 the Ontario Temperance Act
4256-612: The Republican Party to adopt an anti-temperance platform at the 1872 Republican National Convention with the threat of taking the German and European vote away from the party. The following year , Hesing formed the People's Party , a breakaway pro-liquor faction of the Republican Party, and elected Harvey Doolittle Colvin as mayor of Chicago by a wide margin. The Anti-Saloon League
4408-481: The South , enacted prohibition legislation, as did individual counties within a state. Court cases also debated the subject of prohibition. While some cases ruled in opposition, the general tendency was toward support. In Mugler v. Kansas (1887), Justice Harlan commented: "We cannot shut out of view the fact, within the knowledge of all, that the public health, the public morals, and the public safety, may be endangered by
4560-626: The Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on December 5, 1933, repealing nationwide prohibition. The gradual relaxation of licensing laws went on throughout the 20th century, with Mississippi being the last state to end prohibition in 1966. In Australia, early hotel closing times were reverted in the 1950s and 1960s. Initially, prohibition had some positive effects in some states, with Ford reporting that absenteeism in his companies had decreased by half. Alcohol consumption decreased dramatically. Also, statistical analysis has shown that
4712-598: The Ulster Temperance Movement with other Presbyterian clergy, initially enduring ridicule from members of his community. The 1830s saw a tremendous growth in temperance groups, not just in England and the United States, but also in British colonies, especially New Zealand and Australia . The Pequot writer and minister William Apess (1798–1839) established the first formal Native American temperance society among
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4864-564: The Volstead Act , to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment when it went into effect in 1920. Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, when the Volstead Act went into effect. A total of 1,520 Federal Prohibition agents (police) were tasked with enforcement. Supporters of the Amendment soon became confident that it would not be repealed. One of its creators, Senator Morris Sheppard , joked that "there
5016-461: The abolitionist movement and women's suffrage movement . During the Victorian period, the temperance movement became more political, advocating the legal prohibition of all alcohol, rather than only calling for moderation. Proponents of temperance, teetotalism and prohibition came to be known as the "drys". There was still a focus on the working class, but also their children. The Band of Hope
5168-457: The colonial period . On March 26, 1636, the legislature of New Somersetshire met at what is now Saco, Maine , and adopted a law limiting the sale of "strong liquor or wyne", although carving out exceptions for "lodger[s]" and allowing serving to "laborers on working days for one hower at dinner." In May 1657, the General Court of Massachusetts made the sale of strong liquor "whether known by
5320-587: The presidential election of 1916 , the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson , and the Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes , ignored the prohibition issue, as did both parties' political platforms. Democrats and Republicans had strong wet and dry factions, and the election was expected to be close, with neither candidate wanting to alienate any part of his political base. When the 65th Congress convened in March 1917,
5472-478: The teaching on alcohol of their founder John Wesley , Methodist churches were aligned with the temperance movement. Methodists believed that despite the supposed economic benefits of liquor traffic such as job creation and taxes, the harm that it caused society through its contribution to murder, gambling, prostitution, crime, and political corruption outweighed its economic benefits. In Great Britain, both Wesleyan Methodists and Primitive Methodists championed
5624-412: The temperance movement . The dry crusade was revived by the national Prohibition Party , founded in 1869, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1874. The WCTU advocated the prohibition of alcohol as a method for preventing, through education, abuse from alcoholic husbands. WCTU members believed that if their organization could reach children with its message, it could create
5776-609: The "Thirsty First". The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920. On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act , the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson 's veto . The act established
5928-541: The 1820s. Temperance is one of the cardinal virtues listed in Aristotle's tractate the Nicomachean Ethics . During the 18th century, Native American cultures and societies were severely affected by alcohol, which was often given in trade for furs, leading to poverty and social disintegration. As early as 1737, Native American temperance activists began to campaign against alcohol and for legislation to restrict
6080-536: The ASL began its efforts for national prohibition. Wayne Wheeler , a member of the Anti-Saloon League was integral in the prohibition movement in the United States. He used hard political persuasion called "Wheelerism" in the 1920s of legislative bodies. Rather than ask directly for a vote, which Wheeler viewed as weak, Wheeler covered the desks of legislators in telegrams. He was also accomplished in rallying supporters;
6232-644: The ATS had reached 1.5 million members, with women constituting 35% to 60% of its chapters. The Prohibition movement, also known as the dry crusade, continued in the 1840s, spearheaded by pietistic religious denominations, especially the Methodists . The late 19th century saw the temperance movement broaden its focus from abstinence to include all behavior and institutions related to alcohol consumption. Preachers such as Reverend Mark A. Matthews linked liquor-dispensing saloons with political corruption. Some successes for
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6384-749: The American Temperance Society. The first temperance society in Pennsylvania, of which a record has been found was that of "Darby Association for Discouraging the Unnecessary Use of Spirituous Liquors" organized in Delaware County in 1819, at the Darby Friends Meetinghouse. The temperance movement in the United States began at a national level in the 1820s, having been popularized by evangelical temperance reformers and among
6536-738: The Anti-Saloon League's success lies in putting the ballot into the hands of women", i.e. it was expected that the first act that women were to take upon themselves after having obtained the right to vote, was to vote for an alcohol ban. The actions of the temperance movement included organizing sobriety lectures and setting up reform clubs for men and children. Some proponents also opened special temperance hotels and lunch wagons, and they also lobbied for banning liquor during prominent events. The Scientific Temperance Instruction Movement published textbooks, promoted alcohol education and held many lectures. Political action included lobbying local legislators and creating petition campaigns. This new trend in
6688-472: The Cincinnati Enquirer called Wheeler "the strongest political force of his day". His efforts specifically influenced the passing of the eighteenth-amendment. And in 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment was successfully passed in the United States, introducing prohibition of the manufacture, sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The amendment, also called "the noble experiment", was preceded by
6840-555: The Constitution were championed by dry crusaders to help their cause. One was granted in the Sixteenth Amendment (1913), which replaced alcohol taxes that funded the federal government with a federal income tax. The other was women's suffrage, which was granted after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; since women tended to support prohibition, temperance organizations tended to support women's suffrage. In
6992-588: The Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind" (1784), Rush argued that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to physical and psychological health, labeling drunkenness as a disease. Apparently influenced by Rush's widely discussed belief, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association in 1789. Similar associations were formed in Virginia in 1800 and New York in 1808. Within
7144-682: The Sabbath. After the American Revolution there was a new emphasis on good citizenship for the new republic. With the Evangelical Protestant religious revival of the 1820s and 1830s, called the Second Great Awakening , social movements began aiming for a perfect society. This included abolitionism and temperance. The Awakening brought with it an optimism about moral reform, achieved through volunteer organizations. Although
7296-526: The Springfield Washington Temperance Society on the 110th anniversary of the birth of George Washington . In the speech, Lincoln criticized early methods of the temperance movement as overly forceful and advocated reason as the solution to the problem of intemperance, praising the current temperance movement methods of the Washingtonian movement. By 1845, the Washingtonian movement was no longer as prominent for three reasons. First,
7448-409: The U.S. Congress passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%. This act, which had been intended to save grain for the war effort, was passed ten days after the armistice ending World War I was signed, on November 21, 1918. The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30, 1919, with July 1 becoming known as
7600-602: The U.S. border with Canada, was notoriously difficult to control, especially rum-running in Windsor , Canada. When the U.S. government complained to the British that American law was being undermined by officials in Nassau , Bahamas , the head of the British Colonial Office refused to intervene. Winston Churchill believed that Prohibition was "an affront to the whole history of mankind". Three federal agencies were assigned
7752-408: The US being decreased by half between 1830 and 1840. During this time, prohibition laws came into effect in twelve US states, such as Maine. A Maine law was passed in 1851 by the efforts of Neal Dow . Organized opposition caused five of these states to eliminate or weaken the laws. By the 1860s the temperance movement had become a significant mass movement and it encouraged a general abstinence from
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#17330934737187904-483: The United States (1920 to 1933), as well as provincial prohibition in India (1948 to present). A number of temperance organizations exist that promote temperance and teetotalism as a virtue. In late 17th-century North America, alcohol was a vital part of colonial life as a beverage, medicine, and commodity for men, women, and children. Drinking was widely accepted and completely integrated into society; however, drunkenness
8056-519: The United States of America, such as Georgia, implemented the local option to control laws about public mask wearing enforcement. Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages . Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism , and its leaders emphasize alcohol 's negative effects on people's health, personalities and family lives. Typically
8208-587: The United States, the National Prohibition Party which was led by John Russell gradually became more popular, gaining more votes, as they felt that the existing Democrat and Republican parties did not do enough for the temperance cause. The party was associated with the Independent Order of Good Templars , which entertained a universalist orientation, being more open to blacks and repentant alcoholics than most other organizations. Reflecting
8360-420: The WCTU followed Frances Willard's "Do Everything" doctrine and used temperance as a method of entering into politics and furthering other progressive issues such as prison reform and labor laws . In 1881 Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution . Arrested over 30 times and fined and jailed on multiple occasions, prohibition activist Carrie Nation attempted to enforce
8512-585: The Washingtonians did not believe that intemperance destroyed a drinker's morality. They worked on the platform that abstinence communities could be created through sympathizing with drunkards rather than ostracizing them through the belief that they are sinners or diseased. On February 22, 1842, in Springfield, Illinois, while a member of the Illinois Legislature, Abraham Lincoln gave an address to
8664-401: The Washingtonians through their closed rather than public meetings, fines, and membership qualifications, believing their methods were more effective in curbing men's alcohol addictions. After the 1850s, the temperance movement was characterized more by prevention by means of prohibitions laws than remedial efforts to facilitate the recovery of alcoholics. By the mid-1850s, the United States
8816-499: The White House. After the Eighteenth Amendment became law, bootlegging became widespread. In the first six months of 1920, the federal government opened 7,291 cases for Volstead Act violations. In the first complete fiscal year of 1921, the number of cases violating the Volstead Act jumped to 29,114 violations and would rise dramatically over the next thirteen years. Grape juice was not restricted by Prohibition, even though if it
8968-669: The Word of Wisdom, including complete abstinence from alcohol. William Miller, the founder of the Millerites, claimed that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ would be in 1843 and that anyone who drank alcohol would be unprepared for the Second Coming. After the Great Disappointment in 1843, the Seventh-day Adventist denomination adopted health reforms inspired by influential church pioneers Ellen G. White and her husband,
9120-477: The additives from the alcohol to make it drinkable. As a response, the Treasury Department required manufacturers to add more deadly poisons, including the particularly deadly combination referred to (incorrectly) as "methyl alcohol": 4 parts methanol , 2.25 parts pyridine base, and 0.5 parts benzene per 100 parts ethyl alcohol. New York City medical examiners prominently opposed these policies because of
9272-473: The average New England family was consuming seven barrels of hard cider annually, which equates to about 35-gallons per person. Around the mid-1800s, newly arrived immigrants from Germany and elsewhere increased beer's popularity, and the temperance movement and continued westward expansion caused farmers to abandon their cider orchards. Attitudes toward alcohol in Great Britain became increasingly negative in
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#17330934737189424-451: The body represented the "temple of God" and anything that harmed the "temple", including alcohol, must be avoided. By 1833, several thousand groups similar to the ATS had been formed in most states. In some of these large communities, temperance almanacs were released which gave information about planting and harvesting as well as current information about temperance-related issues. Temperance societies were being organized in England about
9576-504: The border to get a drink of rye. When the rye was opened, the Yanks began to sing, "God bless America, but God save the King!" Prohibition became highly controversial among medical professionals because alcohol was widely prescribed by the era's physicians for therapeutic purposes. Congress held hearings on the medicinal value of beer in 1921. Subsequently, physicians across the country lobbied for
9728-476: The capital "T"s that were written next to the names of people who pledged complete abstinence from alcohol. People were instructed to only drink pure water and the teetotalists were known as the "pure-water army". In the US, the American Temperance Union advocated total abstinence from distilled and fermented liquors. By 1835, they had gained 1.5 million members. This created conflict between
9880-543: The cause of temperance; the Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals was later established in the United States to advance the movement. In 1864, the Salvation Army , another denomination in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition, was founded in London with a heavy emphasis on abstinence from alcohol and ministering to the working class, which led publicans to fund a Skeleton Army in order to disrupt their meetings. The Salvation Army quickly spread internationally, maintaining an emphasis on abstinence. Many of
10032-399: The century, temperance societies became commonplace in the US. During that time, there was also a growth in the number of non-religious temperance groups which were linked to left-wing movements, such as the Scottish Prohibition Party . Founded in 1901, it went on to defeat Winston Churchill in Dundee in the 1922 general election . A favorite goal of the British Temperance movement
10184-414: The colonies shared. Settlement along the frontier often included a legal requirement whereby an orchard of mature apple trees bearing fruit within three years of settlement were required before a land title was officially granted. For example, The Ohio Company required settlers to plant not less than fifty apple trees and twenty peach trees within three years. These plantings guaranteed land titles. In 1767,
10336-459: The consumption of alcohol. A general movement to build alternatives to replace the functions of public bars existed, so the Independent Order of Rechabites was formed in England, with a branch later opening in the US as a friendly society that did not hold meetings in public bars. There was also a movement to introduce temperance fountains across the United States—to provide people with reliably safe drinking water rather than saloon alcohol. In
10488-461: The consumption of alcohol. Many people stockpiled wines and liquors for their personal use in the latter part of 1919 before sales of alcoholic beverages became illegal in January 1920. Since alcohol was legal in neighboring countries, distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or smuggled into the United States illegally. The Detroit River , which forms part of
10640-507: The country. Before the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in January 1920, many of the upper classes stockpiled alcohol for legal home consumption after Prohibition began. They bought the inventories of liquor retailers and wholesalers, emptying out their warehouses, saloons, and club storerooms. President Woodrow Wilson moved his own supply of alcoholic beverages to his Washington residence after his term of office ended. His successor, Warren G. Harding , relocated his own large supply into
10792-426: The curtailment of the influence of pubs and brewers. The organization became quite radical, organizing rallies, demonstrations and marches to influence as many people as possible to sign the pledge of allegiance to the society and to resolve to abstain "from all liquors of an intoxicating quality, whether ale, porter, wine or spirits, except as medicine." In this period there was local success at restricting or banning
10944-413: The danger to human life. As many as 10,000 people died from drinking denatured alcohol before Prohibition ended. New York City medical examiner Charles Norris believed the government took responsibility for murder when they knew the poison was not deterring consumption and they continued to poison industrial alcohol (which would be used in drinking alcohol) anyway. Norris remarked: "The government knows it
11096-499: The day; at the turn of the 19th century, however, overindulgence and subsequent intoxication became problems that often led to the disintegration of the family. Early temperance societies, often associated with churches, were located in upstate New York and New England, but only lasted a few years. These early temperance societies called for moderate drinking (hence the name " temperance "), but had little influence outside of their geographical areas. In 1810, Calvinist ministers met in
11248-591: The dries outnumbered the wets by 140 to 64 in the Democratic Party and 138 to 62 among Republicans. With America's declaration of war against Germany in April, German Americans , a major force against prohibition, were sidelined and their protests subsequently ignored. In addition, a new justification for prohibition arose: prohibiting the production of alcoholic beverages would allow more resources—especially grain that would otherwise be used to make alcohol—to be devoted to
11400-526: The early 19th-century United States, alcohol was still regarded as a necessary part of the American diet for both practical and social reasons. On one hand, water supplies were often polluted, milk was not always available, and coffee and tea were expensive. On the other hand, social constructs of the time made it impolite for people (particularly men) to refuse alcohol. Drunkenness was not a problem, because people would only drink small amounts of alcohol throughout
11552-424: The early history of the Word of Wisdom, temperance and other items in the health code were seen more as wise recommendations than as commandments. Although he advocated temperance, Joseph Smith did not preach complete abstinence from alcohol. According to Paul H. Peterson and Ronald W. Walker, Smith did not enforce abstinence from alcohol because he believed that it threatened individual choice and agency and that
11704-650: The elites that working-class people were responsible enough to be granted the vote. In short, the 1830s was mostly characterized by moral persuasion of workers. In 1840, a group of artisans in Baltimore, Maryland created their own temperance society that could appeal to hard-drinking men like themselves. Calling themselves the Washingtonians , they pledged complete abstinence, attempting to persuade others through their own experience with alcohol rather than relying on preaching and religious lectures. They argued that sympathy
11856-641: The evangelist reformers attacked them for refusing to admit alcoholism was a sin. Secondly, the movement was criticized as unsuccessful due to the number of men who returned to drinking. Finally, the movement was internally divided by differing views on prohibition legislation. Temperance fraternal societies such as the Sons of Temperance and the Good Samaritans took the place of the Washingtonian movement with largely similar views relating to helping alcoholics by way of sympathy and philanthropy. They, however, differed from
12008-566: The few bootleggers ever to tell his story, Cassiday wrote five front-page articles for The Washington Post , in which he estimated that 80% of congressmen and senators drank. The Democrats in the North were mostly wets, and in the 1932 election , they made major gains. The wets argued that Prohibition was not stopping crime, and was actually causing the creation of large-scale, well-funded, and well-armed criminal syndicates. As Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, especially in urban areas, its repeal
12160-456: The future of the temperance movement. Other small temperance societies appeared in the 1810s, but had little impact outside their immediate regions and they disbanded soon after. Their methods had little effect in implementing temperance, and drinking actually increased until after 1830; however, their methods of public abstinence pledges and meetings, as well as handing out pamphlets, were implemented by more lasting temperance societies such as
12312-525: The general use of intoxicating drinks; nor the fact established by statistics accessible to every one, that the idleness, disorder, pauperism and crime existing in the country, are, in some degree...traceable to this evil." In support of prohibition, Crowley v. Christensen (1890), remarked: "The statistics of every state show a greater amount of crime and misery attributable to the use of ardent spirits obtained at these retail liquor saloons than to any other source." The proliferation of neighborhood saloons in
12464-403: The history of the temperance movement was the last but it proved to be the most effective. Scholars have estimated that by 1900, one in ten Americans had signed a pledge to abstain from drinking, as the temperance movement became the most well-organized lobby group of the time. International conferences were held, in which temperance advocacy methods and policies were discussed. By the turn of
12616-476: The idea that the government should define morality. Even in the wet stronghold of New York City there was an active prohibition movement, led by Norwegian church groups and African-American labor activists who believed that prohibition would benefit workers, especially African Americans. Tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers generally supported prohibition, believing a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products. A particularly effective operator on
12768-560: The illegal liquor trade. Iceland introduced prohibition in 1915, but liberalized consumption of spirits in 1933, but beer was still illegal until 1989. In the 1910s, half of the countries in the world had introduced some form of alcohol control in their laws or policies. The temperance movement started to wane in the 1930s, with prohibition being criticised as creating unhealthy drinking habits, encouraging criminals and discouraging economic activity. Prohibition would not last long: The legislative tide largely moved away from prohibition when
12920-580: The influence of these groups receded from 1917 following the entry of the U.S. into the First World War against Germany. The Eighteenth Amendment passed in 1919 "with a 68 percent supermajority in the House of Representatives and 76 percent support in the Senate" and was ratified by 46 out of 48 states. Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act , set down the rules for enforcing the federal ban and defined
13072-466: The late 1840s. Controversy over the measures gave rise to the first major confrontation in the United States over the propriety and the constitutionality of ballot-box legislation, or referendums. Opponents of local option, which included drinkers and liquor dealers, many of whom were immigrants, argued that local option authorized the "tyranny of the majority" and infringed upon the rights of the liquor-dealing and liquor-consuming minority. Local option, as
13224-470: The late 18th century. One of the reasons for this shift was the need for sober laborers to operate heavy machinery developed in the Industrial Revolution . Anthony Benezet suggested abstinence from alcohol in 1775. As early as the 1790s, physician Benjamin Rush envisioned a disease-like syndrome caused by excessive drinking, the "symptoms" being moral and physical decay. He cited abstinence as
13376-462: The legal definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them. Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the federal government lacked resources to enforce it. Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, cirrhosis death rates, admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis, arrests for public drunkenness, and rates of absenteeism. While many state that Prohibition stimulated
13528-466: The legitimate liquor business. Some crime syndicates moved their efforts into expanding their protection rackets to cover legal liquor sales and other business areas. Doctors were able to prescribe medicinal alcohol for their patients. After just six months of prohibition, over 15,000 doctors and 57,000 pharmacists received licenses to prescribe or sell medicinal alcohol. According to Gastro Obscura , Physicians wrote an estimated 11 million prescriptions
13680-465: The liquor traffic to bear upon the election of candidates for the Chamber of Deputies . As late as 1919, L'Alarme did not only oppose fermented liquors, but considered wine and wine-producers among the most powerful forces against ardent spirits, to which the alcoholism opposed by L'Alarme was considered to be due. According to alcohol researcher Johan Edman, the first country to issue an alcohol prohibition
13832-510: The long term. Americans who wanted to continue drinking alcohol found loopholes in Prohibition laws or used illegal methods to obtain alcohol, resulting in the emergence of black markets and crime syndicates dedicated to distributing alcohol. By contrast, rates of liver cirrhosis , alcoholic psychosis , and infant mortality declined during Prohibition. Because of the lack of uniform national statistics gathered about crime prior to 1930, it
13984-547: The medical community of the existence and seriousness of the disease of alcoholism and prove the efficacy of asylum treatments for alcoholics. They argued for more genetic causes of alcohol addictions. Treatments often included restraining patients while they reformed, both physically and morally. During the same period, there was significant pushback against the growing temperance movement, particularly in urban areas with significant European immigrant communities. Chicago political bosses A.C. Hesing and Hermann Raster forced
14136-571: The middle classes. There was a concentration on advice against hard spirits rather than on abstinence from all alcohol, and on moral reform rather than legal measures against alcohol. An earlier temperance movement had begun during the American Revolution in Connecticut, Virginia and New York state, with farmers forming associations to ban whiskey distilling. The movement spread to eight states, advocating temperance rather than abstinence and taking positions on religious issues such as observance of
14288-422: The moral authorities of their households, consequently rejected the drinking of alcohol, which they believed to be a threat to the home. In 1830, on average, Americans consumed 1.7 bottles of hard liquor per week, three times the amount consumed in 2010. The American Temperance Society (ATS), formed in 1826, helped initiate the first temperance movement and served as a foundation for many later groups. By 1835
14440-460: The most important prohibitionist groups, such as the avowedly prohibitionist United Kingdom Alliance (1853) and the US-based (but international) Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU; 1873), began in the latter half of the 19th century, the latter of which was one of the largest women's societies in the world at that time. But the largest and most radical international temperance organization
14592-544: The most prominent items in the Word of Wisdom is the complete abstinence from alcohol. When the Word of Wisdom was written, the Latter Day Saints were residing in Kirtland, Ohio and the Kirtland Temperance Society was organized on October 6, 1830, with 239 members. According to some scholars, the Word of Wisdom was influenced by the temperance movement. In June 1830, the Millennial Harbinger quoted from
14744-420: The movement he would need more public approval, and fast. This was the start of his policy called 'Wheelerism' where he used the media to make it seem like the general public was "in on" on a specific issue. Wheeler became known as the "dry boss" because of his influence and power. Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values emerging in the United States. Given the mass influx of migrants to
14896-645: The movement promotes alcohol education and it also demands the passage of new laws against the sale of alcohol , either regulations on the availability of alcohol, or the complete prohibition of it . During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement became prominent in many countries, particularly in English-speaking, Scandinavian, and majority Protestant ones, and it eventually led to national prohibitions in Canada (1918 to 1920), Norway (spirits only from 1919 to 1926 ), Finland (1919 to 1932), and
15048-528: The movement were achieved in the 1850s, including the Maine law , adopted in 1851, which banned the manufacture and sale of liquor. Before its repeal in 1856, 12 states followed the example set by Maine in total prohibition. The temperance movement lost strength and was marginalized during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Following the war, social moralists turned to other issues, such as Mormon polygamy and
15200-476: The name of rum, whisky, wine, brandy, etc." to the Native Americans illegal. In general, informal social controls in the home and community helped maintain the expectation that the abuse of alcohol was unacceptable: "Drunkenness was condemned and punished, but only as an abuse of a God-given gift. Drink itself was not looked upon as culpable, any more than food deserved blame for the sin of gluttony . Excess
15352-422: The only treatment option. Rush saw benefits in fermented drinks, but condemned the use of distilled spirits. As well as addiction, Rush noticed the correlation that drunkenness had with disease, death, suicide, and crime. According to "Pompili, Maurizio et al", there is increasing evidence that, aside from the volume of alcohol consumed, the pattern of the drinking is relevant for health outcomes. Overall, there
15504-556: The owners compensated through a new tax on surviving pubs. The brewers controlled the pubs and organized a stiff resistance, supported by the Conservatives, who repeatedly defeated the proposal in the House of Lords. However, the People's Tax of 1910 included a stiff tax on pubs. The movement gained traction during the First World War, with President Wilson issuing sharp restrictions on the sale of alcohol in many combatant countries. This
15656-718: The policy, claiming that it lowered tax revenue at a critical time before and during the Great Depression and imposed "rural" Protestant religious values on "urban" America. The Twenty-first Amendment ended Prohibition, though it continued in some states. To date, this is the only time in American history in which a constitutional amendment was passed for the purpose of repealing another. The overall effects of Prohibition on society are disputed and hard to pin down. Some research indicates that alcohol consumption declined substantially due to Prohibition, while other research indicates that Prohibition did not reduce alcohol consumption in
15808-488: The political forces involved were ethnoreligious. Prohibition was supported by the dries, primarily pietistic Protestant denominations that included Methodists , Northern Baptists , Southern Baptists , New School Presbyterians , Disciples of Christ , Congregationalists , Quakers , and Scandinavian Lutherans , but also included the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and, to a certain extent,
15960-453: The political front was Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League , who made Prohibition a wedge issue and succeeded in getting many pro-prohibition candidates elected. Coming from Ohio, his deep resentment for alcohol started at a young age. He was injured on a farm by a worker who had been drunk. This event transformed Wheeler. Starting low in the ranks, he quickly moved up due to his deep-rooted hatred of alcohol. He later realized to further
16112-402: The post-Civil War era became a phenomenon of an increasingly industrialized, urban workforce. Workingmen's bars were popular social gathering places from the workplace and home life. The brewing industry was actively involved in establishing saloons as a lucrative consumer base in their business chain. Saloons were more often than not linked to a specific brewery, where the saloonkeeper's operation
16264-468: The post-Civil war "gospel" temperance movement. This movement was similar to early temperance movements in that drunkenness was seen as a sin; however, public testimony was used to convert others and convince them to sign the pledge. New and revitalized organizations emerged including the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the early Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The movement relied on
16416-403: The proliferation of rampant underground, organized, and widespread criminal activity , Kenneth D. Rose and Georges-Franck Pinard make the opposite claim that there was no increase in crime during the Prohibition era and that such claims are "rooted in the impressionistic rather than the factual." The highest homicide rate in the United States in the first half of the 20th century occurred during
16568-464: The reformed individuals using local evangelical resources to create institutions to reform drunk men. Reformed men in Massachusetts and Maine formed "ribbon" clubs to support men who were interested in stopping drinking. Ribbon reformers traveled throughout the Midwest forming clubs and sharing their experiences with others. Gospel rescue missions or inebriate homes were created that allowed homeless drunkards
16720-480: The repeal of Prohibition as it applied to medicinal liquors. From 1921 to 1930, doctors earned about $ 40 million for whiskey prescriptions. While the manufacture, importation, sale, and transport of alcohol was illegal in the United States, Section 29 of the Volstead Act allowed wine and cider to be made from fruit at home, but not beer. Up to 200 gallons of wine and cider per year could be made, and some vineyards grew grapes for home use. The Act did not prohibit
16872-426: The sale and distribution of alcoholic drinks in indigenous communities. During the colonial era, leaders such as Peter Chartier , King Hagler and Little Turtle resisted the use of rum and brandy as trade items , in an effort to protect Native Americans from cultural changes they viewed as destructive. In the 18th century, there was a gin craze in Great Britain. The middle classes became increasingly critical of
17024-533: The sale of alcohol in many parts of the United States. In 1838, Massachusetts banned certain sales of spirits. The law was repealed two years later, but it set a precedent. In 1845, Michigan allowed its municipalities to decide whether they were going to prohibit. In 1851, a law was passed in Maine that was a full-fledged prohibition, and this was followed by bans in several other states in the next two decades. The movement became more effective, with alcohol consumption in
17176-403: The sales of alcohol. He believed that it was only possible for drinkers to reform in the early stages of addiction, because anyone in advanced stages of addiction, according to Beecher, had damaged their morality and could not be saved. Early temperance reformers often viewed drunkards as warnings rather than as victims of a disease, leaving the state to take care of them and their conduct. In
17328-477: The same time, many inspired by a Belfast professor of theology, and Presbyterian Church of Ireland minister John Edgar , who poured his stock of whiskey out of his window in 1829. Was this in England or Ireland? He mainly concentrated on the elimination of spirits rather than wine and beer. On August 14, 1829, he wrote a letter in the Belfast Telegraph publicizing his views on temperance . He also formed
17480-599: The same year, the American Temperance Society (ATS) was formed in Boston, Massachusetts, within 12 years claiming more than 8,000 local groups and over 1,250,000 members. Presbyterian preacher Charles Grandison Finney taught abstinence from ardent spirits . In the Rochester, New York revival of 1831, individuals were required to sign a temperance pledge in order to receive salvation. Finney believed and taught that
17632-512: The state's ban on alcohol consumption. She walked into saloons, scolding customers, and used her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Nation recruited ladies into the Carrie Nation Prohibition Group, which she also led. While Nation's vigilante techniques were rare, other activists enforced the dry cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alcohol. Other dry states , especially those in
17784-460: The steps that should be avoided to prevent the juice from fermenting into wine. Some drugstores sold "medical wine" with around a 22% alcohol content. In order to justify the sale, the wine was given a medicinal taste. Home-distilled hard liquor was called bathtub gin in northern cities, and moonshine in rural areas of Virginia , Kentucky , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , West Virginia and Tennessee . Making drinkable hard liquor
17936-492: The task of enforcing the Volstead Act: the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Treasury 's IRS Bureau of Prohibition, and the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition. As early as 1925, journalist H. L. Mencken believed that Prohibition was not working. Historian David Oshinsky , summarizing the work of Daniel Okrent , wrote that "Prohibition worked best when directed at its primary target:
18088-631: The teetotalists and the more moderate members of the ATS. Although there were temperance societies in the South, as the movement became more closely tied with the abolitionist movement, people in the South created their own teetotal societies. Considering drinking to be an important part of their cultures, German and Irish immigrants resisted the movement. In the UK, teetotalism originated in Preston, Lancashire in 1833. The Catholic temperance movement started in 1838 when
18240-446: The temperance movement during this time had a positive, but moderate, effect on later adult educational outcomes through providing a healthy pre-natal environment. However, prohibition had negative effects on the US economy, with thousands of jobs being lost, the catering and entertainment industries losing huge profits. The US and other countries with prohibition saw their tax revenues decrease dramatically, with some estimating this at
18392-420: The temperance movement was nonsectarian in principle, the movement consisted mostly of church-goers. The temperance movement promoted temperance and emphasized the moral, economical and medical effects of overindulgence. Connecticut-born minister Lyman Beecher published a book in 1826 called Six Sermons on...Intemperance . Beecher described inebriation as a "national sin" and suggested legislation to prohibit
18544-434: The trade in alcoholic drinks during the 19th century. They aimed to heal what they saw as an ill society beset by alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism , family violence , and saloon -based political corruption . Many communities introduced alcohol bans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and enforcement of these new prohibition laws became a topic of debate. Prohibition supporters, called "drys", presented it as
18696-406: The types of alcoholic beverages that were prohibited. But not all alcohol was banned; for example, religious use of wine was permitted. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, but local laws were stricter in many areas, some states banning possession outright. By the late 1920s, a new opposition to Prohibition emerged nationwide. The opposition attacked
18848-430: The underground liquor market, by loading their stocks with ingredients for liquors, including Bénédictine , vermouth , scotch mash, and even ethyl alcohol ; anyone could purchase these ingredients legally. In October 1930, just two weeks before the congressional midterm elections, bootlegger George Cassiday —"the man in the green hat"—came forward and told members of Congress how he had bootlegged for ten years. One of
19000-433: The urban centers of the United States, many individuals within the prohibition movement associated the crime and morally corrupt behavior of American cities with their large, immigrant populations. Saloons frequented by immigrants in these cities were often frequented by politicians who wanted to obtain the immigrants' votes in exchange for favors such as job offers, legal assistance, and food baskets. Thus, saloons were seen as
19152-649: The war effort. While wartime prohibition was a spark for the movement, World War I ended before nationwide Prohibition was enacted. A resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment to accomplish nationwide Prohibition was introduced in Congress and passed by both houses in December 1917. By January 16, 1919, the Amendment had been ratified by 36 of the 48 states, making it law. Eventually, only two states— Connecticut and Rhode Island —opted out of ratifying it. On October 28, 1919, Congress passed enabling legislation, known as
19304-466: The widespread drunkenness among the lower classes. Motivated by the middle-class desire for order, and amplified by the population growth in the cities, the drinking of gin became the subject of critical national debate. In 1743, John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist Churches, proclaimed "that buying, selling, and drinking of liquor, unless absolutely necessary, were evils to be avoided". In
19456-443: The working-class poor." Historian Lizabeth Cohen writes: "A rich family could have a cellar-full of liquor and get by, it seemed, but if a poor family had one bottle of home-brew, there would be trouble." Working-class people were inflamed by the fact that their employers could dip into a private cache while they, the employees, could not. Within a week after Prohibition went into effect, small portable stills were on sale throughout
19608-630: The years of prohibition, decreasing immediately after prohibition ended. By 1925, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs in New York City alone. Wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime. On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act , legalizing beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) and wine of
19760-660: Was Russia, as part of war mobilization policies. This followed after Russia had made significant losses in the war against the sober Japanese in 1905 . In the UK, the Liberal government passed the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 when pub hours were licensed, beer was watered down and was subject to a penny a pint extra tax, and in 1916 a State Management Scheme meant that breweries and pubs in certain areas of Britain were nationalized, especially in places where armaments were made. In 1913,
19912-472: Was a personal indiscretion." When informal controls failed, there were legal options. Shortly after the United States obtained independence, the Whiskey Rebellion took place in western Pennsylvania in protest of government-imposed taxes on whiskey . Although the taxes were primarily levied to help pay down the newly formed national debt , it also received support from some social reformers, who hoped
20064-413: Was a profitable activity, and crime increased rather than decreased as expected and advocated by proponents. In the United States, the temperance movement was in decline: Fundamentalist and nativist groups had become dominant in the movement, which led moderate members to leave the movement. During this time, in former colonies (such as Gujarat in India, Sri Lanka and Egypt), the temperance movement
20216-510: Was allowed to sit for sixty days it would ferment and turn to wine with a twelve percent alcohol content. Many people took advantage of this as grape juice output quadrupled during the Prohibition era. To prevent bootleggers from using industrial ethyl alcohol to produce illegal beverages, the federal government ordered the denaturation of industrial alcohols , meaning they must include additives to make them unpalatable or poisonous. In response, bootleggers hired chemists who successfully removed
20368-647: Was an organization that began in Ohio in 1893. Reacting to urban growth, it was driven by evangelical Protestantism . Furthermore, the League was strongly supported by the WCTU: in some US states alcoholism had become epidemic and rates of domestic violence were also high. At that time, Americans drank about three times as much alcohol as they drank in the 2010s. The League simultaneously campaigned for suffrage and temperance, with its leader Susan B. Anthony stating that "The only hope of
20520-624: Was an overlooked method for helping people with alcohol addictions, citing coercion as an ineffective method. For that reason, they did not support prohibitive legislation of alcohol. They were suspicious of the divisiveness of denominational religion and did not use religion in their discussions, emphasizing personal abstinence. They never set up national organizations, believing that concentration of power and distance from citizens causes corruption. Meetings were public and they encouraged equal participation, appealing to both men and women and northerners and southerners. Unlike early temperance reformers,
20672-457: Was associated with anti-colonialism or religious revival. As such, the temperance movement in India became closely tied with the Indian independence movement as Mahatma Gandhi viewed alcohol as being a foreign importation. He viewed foreign rule as the reason that national prohibition was not yet established at his time. The temperance movement still exists in many parts of the world, but it
20824-558: Was based on uncontrolled experiments; regardless, his $ 6 billion figure for the annual gains of Prohibition to the United States continues to be cited. In a backlash to the emerging reality of a changing American demographic, many prohibitionists subscribed to the doctrine of nativism , in which they endorsed the notion that the success of America was a result of its white Anglo-Saxon ancestry. This belief fostered distrust of immigrant communities that fostered saloons and incorporated drinking in their popular culture. Two other amendments to
20976-479: Was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and Prohibition was formally introduced nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , ratified on January 16, 1919. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment , which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933. Led by Pietistic Protestants , prohibitionists first attempted to end
21128-531: Was divided from differing views of slavery and prohibition laws and economic depression. This influenced the Third Great Awakening in the United States. The prayer meeting largely characterized this religious revival. Prayer meetings were devotional meetings run by laypeople rather than clergy and consisted of prayer and testimony by attendees. The meetings were held frequently and pledges of temperance were confessed. Prayer meetings and pledges characterized
21280-585: Was done to preserve grain for food production. During this time, prohibitionists used anti-German sentiment related to the war to rally against alcohol sales, since many brewers were of German-American descent. L'Alarme: société française d'action contre l'alcoolisme was a movement in France, inaugurated in 1914, under the auspices of the Ligue National contre l'Alcoolisme (National League Against Alcoholism), to bring public sentiment for increased restrictions upon
21432-463: Was eagerly anticipated. Wets had the organization and the initiative. They pushed the argument that states and localities needed the tax money. President Herbert Hoover proposed a new constitutional amendment that was vague on particulars and satisfied neither side. Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic platform promised repeal of the 18th Amendment. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, many bootleggers and suppliers with wet sympathies simply moved into
21584-639: Was easier than homebrewing good beer. Since selling privately distilled alcohol was illegal and bypassed government taxation, law enforcement officers relentlessly pursued manufacturers. In response, bootleggers modified their cars and trucks by enhancing the engines and suspensions to make faster vehicles that would improve their chances of outrunning and escaping agents of the Bureau of Prohibition , commonly called "revenue agents" or "revenuers". These cars became known as "moonshine runners" or " 'shine runners". Shops with wet sympathies were also known to participate in
21736-584: Was far less discreet with his drinking habits. However, at the end of the 19th century, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Brigham Young said that the Saints could no longer justify disobeying the Word of Wisdom because of the way that it originally was presented. In 1921, Heber J. Grant , then president of the LDS church, officially called on the Latter-day Saints to strictly adhere to
21888-483: Was financed by a brewer and contractually obligated to sell the brewer's product to the exclusion of competing brands. A saloon's business model often included the offer of a free lunch , where the bill of fare commonly consisted of heavily salted food meant to induce thirst and the purchase of drink. During the Progressive Era (1890–1920), hostility toward saloons and their political influence became widespread, with
22040-483: Was first used in the temperance movement as a means to bring about prohibition gradually. In the 1830s, temperance activists mobilized to restrict licenses in towns and counties in New England. By the 1840s, temperance reformers demanded state laws to allow local voters to decide whether any liquor licenses would be issued in their localities. Some 12 states and territories had some form of the early local option laws by
22192-531: Was founded in 1847 in Leeds, UK by the Reverend Jabez Tunnicliff . It aimed to save working class children from the drinking parents by teaching them the importance and principles of sobriety and teetotalism. In 1855, a national organisation was formed amidst an explosion of Band of Hope work. Meetings were held in churches throughout the UK and included Christian teaching. The group campaigned politically for
22344-458: Was no prohibition. Overlying the patchwork of prohibition, many states (known as alcoholic beverage control states ) decided to establish their own monopolies over the wholesaling and/or retailing of alcoholic beverages. Montgomery County, Maryland , for example, has used local option to establish its alcohol control monopoly within its borders. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic some states in
22496-404: Was not tolerated. In the colonial period of America from around 1623, when a Plymouth minister named William Blackstone began distributing apples and flowers, up until the mid-1800s, hard cider was the primary alcoholic drink of the people. Hard cider was prominent throughout this entire period and nothing compared in scope or availability. It was one of the few aspects of American culture that all
22648-545: Was often substituted for alcohol was for the Sterno , a denatured form of ethyl alcohol adulterated with methanol and a jelling agent, commonly known as "canned heat". Forcing the substance through a makeshift filter, such as a handkerchief, created a rough liquor substitute; however, the result was poisonous, though not often lethal. Making alcohol at home was common among some families with wet sympathies during Prohibition. Stores sold grape concentrate with warning labels that listed
22800-468: Was passed, prohibiting the sales of alcoholic beverages with more than 2.5% alcohol. In the 1920s imports of alcohol were cut off by provincial referendums. Norway introduced partial prohibition in 1917, which became full prohibition through a referendum in 1919 , but this legislation was overturned in 1926 . Similarly, Finland introduced prohibition in 1919, but repealed it in 1932 after an upsurge in violent crime associated with criminal opportunism and
22952-460: Was sharply to reduce heavy drinking by closing as many pubs as possible. Advocates were Protestant nonconformists who played a major role in the Liberal Party . The Liberal Party adopted temperance platforms focused on local option. In 1908, Prime Minister H.H. Asquith —although a heavy drinker himself —took the lead by proposing to close about a third of the 100,000 pubs in England and Wales, with
23104-906: Was the Good Templars. In 1862, the Soldiers Total Abstinence Association was founded in British India by Joseph Gelson Gregson , a Baptist missionary. In 1898, the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association was formed by James Cullen , an Irish Catholic, which spread to other English-speaking Catholic communities. In 1870, a group of physicians founded the American Association of the Cure of Inebrity (AACI) in order to treat alcohol addiction. The two goals of this organization were to convince skeptical members of
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