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Temperance Movement Research Paper

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Temperance Movement Research Paper
The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of uncontrolled drinking by many of their husbands. These organizations used many arguments to convince their countrymen of the evils of alcohol. They argued that alcohol was a cause of poverty. They said that drunk workers often lost their jobs; or that they would spend their wages on alcohol instead of their homes and families. "Men spent money on alcohol that their families needed for basic necessities, and drunken husbands often abused their wives and …show more content…

At a time when it was not considered respectable for women to speak before mixed audiences of men and women, the abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke of South Carolina boldly spoke out against slavery at public meetings. The reform ferment of the antebellum period had a particular meaning for American women. They played central roles in a wife range of reform movements and a particularly important role in the movements on behalf of temperance and the abolition of slavery (American History: A Survey, Alan Brinkley, PG 333, 2003). Some male abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass supported the right of women to speak and participate equally with men in antislavery activities. Some women saw parallels between the position of women and that of the slaves. In their view, both were expected to be passive, cooperative, and obedient to their master-husbands. The first women's rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in July 1848. The declaration that emerged was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it claimed that all men and women are created equal. Following a long list of grievances were resolutions for equitable laws, equal educational and job opportunities, and the right to …show more content…

The ACS proposed a gradual manumission of slaves, with masters receiving compensation through funds raised by private charity or appropriate by state legislatures (American History: A Survey, Alan Brinkley, PG 334, 2003). By 1830, the early antislavery movement was rapidly losing strength. Those opposed to slavery had reached what appeared to be a dead end until a new figure emerged to transform it into a dramatically different phenomenon. William Lloyd Garrison, born in 1805, believed that, in time, all blacks would be equal in every way to the country's white citizens. He believed they were Americans and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In 1832 he helped organize the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and, the following year, the American Anti-Slavery Society. These were the first organizations dedicated to promoting immediate

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