The Temperance Movement
US History/Napp Name: ______
Historical Context:
“The organized temperance movement in the United States dates back to the 1830s. One of its first well-known advocates was Theodore Dwight Weld. He was also an important figure in the abolition movement. By the 1840s, temperance workers no longer saw people who drank as immoral but as victims of a disease. They began to use politics to promote their aims. They hoped to make the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol illegal in the United States.
In the post-Civil War years, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union took the stand that poverty and poor working conditions led to drinking. Along with the Anti-Saloon League (founded in 1893), the WCTU pressured state and federal legislators to pass prohibition laws. Between 1906 and 1912, seven states passed such laws. The drive for Prohibition peaked with the passage and ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment.
Not all Americans, however, were ready for Prohibition, and some broke this new law. Lawlessness took the form of speakeasies, bootleg liquor operations, and violence among gangsters trying to control the illegal liquor trade. By the elections of 1928, many Americans agreed that the “noble experiment” was failing. Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith proposed ending Prohibition. He lost the election, but Republican Herbert Hoover, who was elected President in 1928, set up a commission to study the issue. It reported that Prohibition should continue. Nevertheless, many Americans continued to ignore the law. After Franklin Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, Congress passed a constitutional amendment repealing Prohibition. The Twenty-First Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, and became law in 1933.”
~ U.S. History and Government Readings and Documents
Questions:
1- When did the organized temperance movement in the United States date back to? ______
2- Who was the first well-known advocate of the temperance movement and why was he significant? ______
3- By the 1840s, how did temperance workers view people who drank? ______
4- Identify two facts about the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). ______
5- What was another organization that advocated temperance in the United States? ______
6- What was the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution? ______
7- When was the Eighteenth Amendment ratified? ______
8- How did some Americans demonstrate that they were not ready for Prohibition? ______
9- What was the “noble experiment” and why was it failing? ______
10- Identify two significant facts about Al Smith. ______
11- Identify two significant facts about Herbert Hoover. ______
12- What U.S. President repealed Prohibition? ______
13- How and when was Prohibition finally ended? ______
14- Do you believe that Prohibition was a noble or foolish idea? Explain your answer. ______
Excerpt: “The Need for Better Enforcement of Prohibition,” by Ella A. Boole (1926)
…[T] he elimination of a preventable cause of poverty, crime, tuberculosis, the diseases of middle life, unhappy homes, and financial depression brings results insofar as the law is observed and enforced…
The closing of the open saloon with its doors swinging both ways, an ever-present invitation for all to drink – men, women, and boys is an outstanding fact, and no one wants it to return. It has resulted in better national health, children are born under better conditions, homes are better, and the mother is delivered from the fear of a drunken husband. There is better food. Savings-banks deposits have increased, and many a man has a bank account to-day who had none in the days of the saloon.
The increase in home owning is another evidence that money wasted in drink is now used for the benefit of the family. Improved living conditions are noticeable in our former slum districts…
Safety-first campaigns on railroads and in the presence of the increasing number of automobiles are greatly strengthened by prohibition.
The prohibition law is not the only law that is violated. Traffic laws, anti-smuggling laws, as well as the Volstead [prohibition] Act, are held in contempt. It is the spirit of the age.
Life-insurance companies have long known that drinkers were poor risks, but they recognize the fact that prohibition has removed a preventable cause of great financial loss to them…
Your attention has been called to the failures [of prohibition]. We claim these have been the result of lax enforcement. The machinery of enforcement should be strengthened.
Questions:
1- Why does Ms. Ella A. Boole believe that Prohibition benefits Americans? ______
2- Identify five ways in which family life has improved as a result of Prohibition according to Ms. Boole.
______
3- Identify two ways in which public safety has improved as a result of Prohibition according to Ms. Boole. ______
4- According to Ms. Boole, how have life-insurance companies benefitted from Prohibition? ______
5- According to Ms. Boole, what is responsible for the failures of prohibition? ______
According to this poster, what is the benefit of Prohibition? ______
1- Why is the little girl in the poster shown ragged and thin? ______
2- What is the message this poster is trying to deliver to readers? ______
3- Do you agree or disagree with this poster’s message? Explain your answer. ______