President Hoover's The Noble Experiment

This was a problem because of the shift of work to railroads and factories with machinery, and having intoxicated workers was a safety issue . This is one way Domestic Ideology shined through as a main argument for the temperance movement. During this time period, men were considered the breadwinners of the home, and the consumption of alcohol was interfering with their work thus it harming their role in the family. Therefore, women had to use their God “given moral insight or instinct” which embraces the domestic ideology that it was the women’s job to keep men on the moral path to ensure that they do not loose their way. As said in lecture, Domestic Ideology shapes the temperance rhetoric due to the fact it sheds light on how alcohol was bad for the family ideology.

In January 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the constitution was approved. It outlawed the transportation, sale, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages. After the law passed consumption moved in the home instead of being in saloons. Americans in the liquor business redistilled the alcohol in certain products like perfume, paint, and carpentry supplies.

The progressive reform that had the greatest impact on American society was the 18th Amendment which made the producing, transporting, or selling of alcohol prohibited. It all began when the Anti-Saloon party gained an advantage during World War I. Women who began these reforms gained support because of their influence on the workforce. If the women had not helped by working men’s jobs during the war, it would not have been as easy. Another aspect of the war that contributed to the amendment's publication was the limited resources available. Since alcohol was made of food sources, many saw it as a waste of food supply that could have been used for “our boys at war”.

The Eighteenth Amendment affected America not only economically but also promoted health and affected America`s crime rate. Specifically the United States of America seen a rise in American`s health such as liver health, in addition has seen a decrease in the economy and crime rates, related to assault and women abuse charges. My paper will demonstrate the ways in which America`s alcohol prohibition caused an economical downturn with dramatic fluctuations in the economy and changes in American societal behaviour`s. This will include an overview of America`s crime rates and economics before, during and after the alcohol prohibition to examine how America was affected by the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment.

Alcohol was immensely important to immigrants that came to the United States from Europe in the 1600’s. A few centuries later, specifically 1917, many Americans believed that alcohol consumption was a problem. An eighteenth amendment was assembled and passed by congress which banned production, transport, and marketing of alcohol. Even a drink consisting of over 1 percent alcohol was considered an alcoholic beverage. America was officially a “dry” country.

Every person has their own way of thinking and each have their own vital interests. The age of reform that took place between the 1820-1840’s was a set of awakenings for the people of the communities to realize some things had to be changed. The “American Temperance Society, founded in 1826” was used to reduce the consumption of alcohol within the communities (Seagull 4th, 440). The temperance movement cause people to have different reactions, some considered it to be an attack on them. The antebellum temperance movement caused conflicts because it interfered with the Americans freedom, freedom means the people get to make their own choices not someone making them for them.

Religious groups, particularly the evangelical Protestants, played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the detrimental effects of alcohol and were at the forefront of the Temperance Movement. The Temperance Movement had two primary goals: to promote abstinence from alcohol and to enact legislation that would limit or prohibit its production, sale, and consumption. The movement's proponents believed that reducing alcohol consumption would lead to individual and societal improvements, including increased productivity, reduced crime rates, and enhanced family stability. They sought to create a “temperate” society in which the harms associated with alcohol would be minimized or eradicated altogether. To achieve their objectives, the Temperance Movement employed a variety of strategies.

In 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in America (Doc B). Prohibitionists overlooked the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. Thus, there was tension between the modernists and the traditionalists. Although the amendment was passed, alcohol was still distributed illegally. Actually, prohibition spawned many crimes, such as illegal sale of alcohol and gang wars.

During the 1920’s alcohol was beginning to be viewed as a problem. Many groups complained about the various effects it had on culture. Women complained that their husbands would get drunk and beat their wife or children. In the business world managers and company owners complained that alcohol was the cause of men coming in late and coming in drunk or hungover which directly affected

The Temperance Movement, starting in 1808, was the first significant attempt to outlaw alcohol. Members of the movement believed alcohol was unconstitutional and caused family violence and crime. In 1900, Carry Nation, who believed saloons were associated with gambling, prostitution, and violence, organized the destruction of many saloons and was arrested. Later in twentieth century came the Prohibition Movement. Supporters thought the poor were wasting their limited money at saloons, and industrial leaders believed a ban on alcohol would increase productivity of workers.

Although many advertisements in support of temperance in the 1920s would have you believe that alcohol was tearing apart homes and creating bums, many of the actual reasons are tied back to national pride and religious motives. An address to Congress given by President Warren G. Harding on Dec. 8th, 1922, attempts to address the issues with prohibition and invites the Governor of the state to an open discussion. President Harding is a supporter of the 18th Amendment, but the majority of Temperance supporters consisted of middle-class Christian women. The average supporter saw temperance as a necessary sacrifice that would benefit America and more specifically the poor. Similarly, President Harding uses the idea of sacrifice and accommodation for the benefit of the Country to rally listeners.

During the nineteenth century, reform movements in the United States led to an expansion of democratic ideals from 1825 to 1855. Throughout the Antebellum period there was a focus on forming a better individual and society. This was exemplified through the increased interest in religion, medicine, education reforms, transcendentalism, abolitionism, and women’s rights. One such powerful reform, the Second Great Awakening, brought about a crusade against personal immorality. Some advocated for temperance because they believed that with an apparently innocent “glass with a friend”, the young man rises step by step to the summit of drunken revelry, then declines to desperation and suicide while his abandoned wife and child grieve (Doc 4).

For example, people’s salary was spent on alcohol, led to physical abuse, sickness, and the hatred effects of drinking on families. Alcohol consumption would hurt workers’ efficiency, which some employers believed would happen. There were this movement which advocated the moderation or elimination of alcohol that were emerging from concerns it was called, “The Temperance Movement.” This movement were mainly led by women where two groups were created one in the year 1874 while the other in the year 1893 there names were the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. This movement was supposed to only work out to cut alcohol consumption, but was later pressed for prohibition laws banning the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol.

A politically and socially crucial period of America’s time, The Great Gatsby succeeds in representing a society where if one is living in excess and decides to never settle down, will inevitably lead to their downfall. The 18th Amendment created the prohibition that made consuming, drinking or anything else that had to with alcohol. Nevertheless people kept on bootlegging alcohol and paid no attention to the law and had nothing to worry about because they were at the top of the food

This group was set up in order combat the issues caused by alcohol. The main cause for women who joined this society was to end the problem of the rise in domestic abuse. The American Temperance Society brought attention to this issue by having public speeches. They would also put on temperance plays to visually project the problems at hand. The main target for this group was the working class.