Historical-MG

Ever since the early 19th century, American citizens have been aware of the problem of alcoholism in society. Many organizations have been formed to combat alcoholism throughout U.S. history. This movement against excessive alcoholism is known as the temperance movement, though it is just one of many temperance movements that have occurred around the world.

The American temperance movement first slowly became organized around the turn of the (19th) century. Community and statewide organizations were formed, largely influenced by Dr. Benjamin Rush's beliefs in temperance, or moderation, rather than abstinance. The first of these organizations was an association of farmers in a Conneticut community, formed in 1789. By 1820, similar organizations formed in eight states, including some statewide organizations.

Leaders of the movement became overconfident, however, and the movement's radical attitude against other moral issues, such as gambling, was looked down upon and the movement declined. A few of the leaders held to the movement's main belief in moderation of drinking, and in 1826 the nationwide American Temperance Society was formed. the Society grew to over 1,500,000 members, with thousands of local groups.

Members began to believe that temperance was too hard to maintain, and ruled that total abstinence was the only way to effectively eliminate the problem of alcoholism. By 1840, the American Temperance Society had become the American Abstinence Society.The issue flooded into the political field, and the Society pushed for legislation prohibiting the consumption of alchohol. Prohibitionists targeted polling locations, strongly pressuring voters and politicians alike to lean toward prohibition laws.

The prohibitionist "temperance" movement was suddenly sidelined by the Civil War. People turned their interests toward the Southern recession, almost always unconditionally devoted to their side. Even after the War ended, the important issues of reconstruction, the abolishment of slavery, and civil rights upstaged alchoholism. The American Abstinance Society had all but vanished, and a new organization, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, took over the movement.

Despite its name, the Women's Christian Temperance Union disproved of temperance and belived in total abstinance and legal prohibition. The WCTU focused much of it's efforts on children and the education system, beliving that by teaching children the dangers of alcohol they could create a large prohibitionist attitude in the next generation. They also pointed out connections between alcohol and crime, convincing voters that alcoholics are, by nature, criminals, and must be stopped before they do any real damage.

The Union concentrated on a variety of other social issues, too, including labor reform, domestic violence, and prehaps most importantly, women's sufferage. This persuit of suffrage appealed to many women, aiding in the growth of the Union, and ultimately, its (short lived) success in influencing the creation of the 18th Amendment.