J. Rorabaugh's The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition

In “The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition,” W. J. Rorabaugh effectively argues that the Antebellum Temperance Reform was motivated primarily by religious moralism. Rorabaugh claims that the temperance societies developed by evangelical Christian ministers served as socializing institutions which significantly helped ease social tensions and anxieties that contributed to alcohol consumption. Rorabaugh is a professor of history at the University of Washington and has published various research that focuses on the 1960s. Some of his most recent publications include Berkeley at War: The 1960s, Kennedy and the Promise of the 1960s, and The Real Making of the President: Kennedy, Nixon, and the 1960 Election. In his analysis, Rorabaugh describes a temperance movement
In fact, “the consumption levels of alcohol in the American republic were significant enough for many Americans to conclude that the nation faced a drinking problem.” (548) According to Rorabaugh, the historical circumstances along with previous economic developments led to the opportunity for increased drinking. However, the rapid changes regarding the society of antebellum America sparked interest in a wide variety of reforms. In fact, reformers hoped to “encourage temperance or even total abstinence from drinking.” (538) The temperance movement was an organized effort to limit and outlaw the consumption and production of alcohol in the United States. As the antebellum reform societies gained popularity, the reformers were motivated by humanitarian ideals in order create a more virtuous nation. As a result, the early nineteenth century was a period of immense change in the United States as Americans “began to take a new interest in religion.” (539) Overall, Rorabaugh explores the American society’s relationship with alcohol and analyzes how religious practices helped relieve social tensions and anxieties that contributed to alcohol