During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Temperance Movement fought to reduce consumption of alcohol. The movement began in the 1820s, rooted in Protestant churches, led by clergy and prominent laymen, and powered by women volunteers. More women were involved in temperance than any other cause in US history up to that point. Women’s involvement seemed natural since the movement targeted men’s alcohol abuse and how it harmed women and children. At first, the Temperance Movement sought
to moderate drinking, then to promote resisting the temptation to drink. Later, the goal became outright prohibition of alcohol sales. This shift coincided with a large wave of immigrants from Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, and some temperance advocates echoed the concerns of nativists as they objected to immigrants’ “wet” cultures and drinking customs. In addition, temperance
advocates regarded urban saloons as hosts to a range of immoral behaviors beyond drunkenness, such as gambling, adultery, prostitution, profanity, and corruption. Women rose to leadership roles with the founding of the national Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1874. Temperance became known as the “Woman’s Crusade,” and women staged peaceful demonstrations of prayer at businesses that served alcohol. These methods reflected the gentle moral guidance expected from women of the
era. Later, the Temperance Movement changed its goals and tactics, and it became a powerful political force which sought to prohibit alcohol entirely. Carrie (or Carry) Nation, a radical temperance advocate, gained both support and notoriety through raiding saloons and using a hatchet to smash their liquor bottles. In the 1890s, the Anti-Saloon League rose to prominence as an influential prohibition lobby, using methods from business and government rather than the church. The League fueled the
passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, or Prohibition, in 1920, which banned production and consumption of alcohol nationwide until 1933, when it was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment. While the movement aligned itself with privileged white femininity, many women who participated in the Temperance Movement also contributed to other forms of social activism, such as abolition, women’s suffrage, and equal rights for women and people of color.  Teacher ResourcesIntroduction for Students
| Introduction for Students Have you ever tried alcohol? Has anyone ever asked you to try it? Has anyone ever asked you not to drink? Well, in the 1800s many people took a pledge never to drink alcohol. They were part of a movement called Temperance that was to have an enormous impact on our country. In the period following the American Revolution many Americans drank to excess. This was due in part to economic and social problems that occurred as a result of rapid inflation
following the war for independence. But widespread drinking was also a way of life. People accustomed to hard physical labor often drank when working—indeed it was often customary to pay workers with drink as well as money. Alcohol was an important part of all kinds of social functions from marriage ceremonies to elections to militia musters. In many parts of the country few drinks existed that did not contain alcohol, and it was often considered healthier to drink fermented and distilled
beverages than water, which was often contaminated. The Temperance Movement began to solve this growing problem. Beginning in the early 1800s the movement first tried to make people temperate in their drinking—that is to make them drink less. But by the 1820s the movement started to advocate for the total abstinence of all alcohol—that is to urge people to stop drinking completely. The movement was also influential in passing laws that prohibited the sale of liquor in several states. When
people took the pledge to stop drinking they joined what was called the "Cold Water Army." Temperance was also important because it connected to many other reform movements that sprang up in the country between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Many of these movements were motivated by a renewed interest in religion called the Second Great Awakening. The ministers of the Second Great Awakening preached in an energetic and emotional manner that appealed to the heart as well as
the mind. These intense religious experiences occurred not just in churches but also in tents and in open-air meetings called "revivals." The Second Great Awakening inspired people to try to change the world and make it better. A wide variety of reform movements developed to improve all aspects of society including diet, fashion, the care for the mentally ill, the treatment of prisoners, world peace, the rights of women, and the end to slavery. Temperance was at the center of most of these
reform movements. Many reformers believed in abstinence and it was through their early association with temperance societies that they met other reformers and began to seek ways to improve other aspects of society. The temperance movement was also important because it was fundamental to the concept of individual choice and responsibility. Taking the pledge was a conscious act that one person did in an effort to make himself or herself a better human being. Temperance also embodied one of
the great historical trends of the nineteenth century—the rising power and influence of the individual in politics, philosophy, and economics. Over the course of the 1800s voting laws changed to allow all free white males to vote regardless of their ownership of land; uniquely American religions such as Unitarianism and philosophies such as Transcendentalism placed a greater emphasis on individual thought and perception than on scripture and dogma; an emerging consumer economy gave greater
authority and power to individual purchasing power; and the nation faced its greatest crisis—the Civil War—over individual freedom. Central to all of these trends and events were the questions: "How should individual human beings behave?" and "How does that behavior influence others?" That behavior included making promises—like taking the pledge—and sticking to them. These are questions we continue to ask today and we continue to answer them in our decisions and attitudes about the use
of alcohol.
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What was the goal of the temperance movement in the 1800s and early 1900s quizlet?
The goal of the temperance movement is to ban manufacture, selling and transporting alcohol beverages.
What was the goal goal of the temperance movement?
temperance movement, movement dedicated to promoting moderation and, more often, complete abstinence in the use of intoxicating liquor (see alcohol consumption).
What was the goal of the temperance movement in the late eighteen hundreds in early 1990s?
The primary goal of the temperance movement soon became a ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Activists all across the nation campaigned for local and state laws prohibiting alcohol. In 1851 a prohibition law was passed in Maine stating that no alcoholic beverages could be made or sold in that state.
What did the temperance movement in the early 1900s lead to?
Temperance supporters wanted progressive reforms in the U.S., including the prohibition of alcohol. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. This amendment outlawed the production and sale of alcohol in the U.S. Prohibition remained in effect until the Twenty-First Amendment in 1933.
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