Prohibition

Leader: American Temperance Union and religious leaders

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

GOAL: to eliminate alcohol abuse

REASON: alcohol led to crime, poverty, abuse of family

Religious leaders stood at the forefront of the war against alcohol.

Public drunkenness was common in the early 1800s.Alcohol abuse was widespread, especially in the

West and among urban workers.

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

Religious leaders stood at the forefront of the war against alcohol.

Public drunkenness was common in the early 1800s.

Alcohol abuse was widespread, especially in the West and among urban workers.

Reformers blamed alcohol for:povertybreakup of familiescrimeinsanity

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

Temperance Cartoons

In the 1850 engraving, "The Drunkard's Home," a cowering family in a squalid home is subjected to the whims of a brutal patriarch.By contrast, the 1850 engraving, "The Temperance Home," depicts a scene of domestic harmony, order, affection, and material comfort.

The reformers began a campaign against drinking.The campaign was

known as the

temperance movement.

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

The American Temperance Society was formed in 1826.

Within a few years, about 1000 local organizations sprang up across the nation.

Some groups took a moderate approach and asked people to drink less alcohol.

Other groups insisted that the sale of alcohol be banned altogether!

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union

The WCTU fought for prohibition and progressive reform.

Frances Willard was the national president of the union from 1879 to 1898.

Focused on suffrage, the 8-hour work day, prison reform, and the Social Gospel.

Question Set #3 Carrie Nation: The Saloon Smasher

Member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

Known for bursting into barrooms, wielding a hatchet or hammer, and smashing the saloon.

Between 1900 and 1910, Nation was arrested some thirty times for her aggressive tactics.

Do you think Carrie Nation's tactics were justified? Why or why not?

The Volstead Act The 18th Amendment

was ratified in 1919 and took effect in 1920.

The Volstead Act clarified the new rules surrounding prohibition.

President Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act on constitutional grounds.

His veto was overridden by Congress. Special stamps were required for

medicinal liquors under the Volstead Act.

"A Noble Experiment" The sale,

transport, and consumption of intoxicating beverages became illegal.

Many law-abiding Americans defied the regulations.

The black market for alcohol was a boon for organized crime.

Detroit police discover a clandestine still

The 21st Amendment Prohibition was

unenforceable. Many deaths occurred

from bootleg liquor.Political corruption

increased.Smuggling grew out of

control. During the Depression

the potential jobs and tax revenue from the legalization of liquor increasingly attractive to struggling Americans.

Thus, in 1933, the noble experiment of Prohibition came to a close with the ratification of the 21st Amendment

TEMPERANCErestraint when using alcohol; abstinence from alcohol

POVERTYstate or condition of being poor

Vocabulary Terms to Know