Alcohol, Temperance, Prohibition

I. Temperance vs. ProhibitionII. BackgroundIII. Legacy & Impact

I. Temperance vs. Prohibition

A. Temperance: regulation (when sold & where consumed)

B. Prohibition: eradication

II. background

A. Colonial (1700s)B. 19th Century (1800s)C. 20th Century (1900s)

A. colonial

1. 1784 annual per capita consumption of alcohol spirits = 4 – 6 gallonsa. Imported – wine (grape)

b. Domestic – beer (barley), rum (molasses),

whiskey (rye)

2. 2000 annual per capita consumption of alcohol spirits =

2- 3 gallons

B. 19th Century1. realizations

a. “Gee, there’s a lot of alcohol consumed in this country.”

– rural life - isolation– urban life - socialization (saloons)– immigration - European culture

 b. “When used irresponsibly, alcohol can be harmful.”

 

B. 19th Century1. why an alcohol culture?

a. why plentiful?– more grains supplied than consumed– ease of transport

b. where/why used? – tavern/pub/saloon culture– socialization

• rural life – ease isolation • urban life – alternate destination

c. why an issue?– health impact– economic impact– social impact

 

B. 19th Century2. reform

a. churches, women activists, anti-immigration partiesb. organizations:

  1874: Women’s Christian Temperance Union1893: Anti-Saloon League

3. moderate success at the state level

4 . lack of unified goal – temperance vs. prohibition? – state vs. nation?

C. 20th Century1. state federal2. Prohibition … part of the “solution set” of reforms

to improve all American society (Progressivism) suppress class conflict

(ex: assassination)

suppress national conflict (ex: The Great War)

3. Webb – Kenyon Act, 1913 (transportation regulation)

III. 20th Century4. Provisions 0f Amendment 18 (1919)

Section1.After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section2.The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section3.This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress

 

III. 20th Century

5. 1920s vocabulary

Speakeasy: place to consume illegal alcoholBootlegger: maker of illegal alcoholMoonshine: illegal alcoholRum Runner: transporter of illegal alcohol

Mixed Results and Unintended Consequences

Wickersham Report, 1931   21st Amendment, 1933

IV. legacy and impact

A. “gangster” culture and motif

B. growth of Federal law enforcement – F B I

C. questions of Federal law enforcement