The Anti-Saloon League and Prohibition
The Anti-Saloon League and Prohibition
Steven Boerner
18 December, 2014
Clark
The prohibition movement of the 1920’s had been an idea that was a long time coming. Churches as far back as the 18th century harshly criticized taverns and had pushed for a removal of alcohol in their cities. As these churches grew, so did their power and influence. In 1726 Reverend Cotton Mather published an article that addressed the people who “unnecessarily” frequent these taverns.1 At first the mission of the church was aimed solely at the drinking habits of individuals. Members of churches were urged to separate themselves from any connection with the traffic of distilled liquors. By 1810 official bodies of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and United Brethren Churches began to condemn drinking places as public nuisances and urged action against them.2 This saw the church move outside of its own community and into the social life of the nation.
The American Temperance Society, which would later be known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1826. This society was nothing more than the church expressing itself in an organized form. The movement created a large temperance reform, which resulted in the formation of the temperance groups in virtually every town and community in the nation. And before long, the efforts of these local bodies were showing tangible results, particularly on the local and state level.3 The first territorial prohibition law on record was enacted in 1843 be Oregon, but was repealed just five years after. The real pioneer state that passed a prohibition law was Maine in 1851. This law prohibited the manufacture, sale, and keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors. It allowed confiscation of liquor that was illegally held, search and seizures, and imprisonment for the third offense. In 1851 there was a National Temperance Convention in New York that consisted of
Steven Boerner
18 December, 2014
Clark
The prohibition movement of the 1920’s had been an idea that was a long time coming. Churches as far back as the 18th century harshly criticized taverns and had pushed for a removal of alcohol in their cities. As these churches grew, so did their power and influence. In 1726 Reverend Cotton Mather published an article that addressed the people who “unnecessarily” frequent these taverns.1 At first the mission of the church was aimed solely at the drinking habits of individuals. Members of churches were urged to separate themselves from any connection with the traffic of distilled liquors. By 1810 official bodies of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and United Brethren Churches began to condemn drinking places as public nuisances and urged action against them.2 This saw the church move outside of its own community and into the social life of the nation.
The American Temperance Society, which would later be known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1826. This society was nothing more than the church expressing itself in an organized form. The movement created a large temperance reform, which resulted in the formation of the temperance groups in virtually every town and community in the nation. And before long, the efforts of these local bodies were showing tangible results, particularly on the local and state level.3 The first territorial prohibition law on record was enacted in 1843 be Oregon, but was repealed just five years after. The real pioneer state that passed a prohibition law was Maine in 1851. This law prohibited the manufacture, sale, and keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors. It allowed confiscation of liquor that was illegally held, search and seizures, and imprisonment for the third offense. In 1851 there was a National Temperance Convention in New York that consisted of
Bibliography: Primary Sources Andreae, Percy. The Prohibition Movement in Its Broader Bearings upon Our Social, Commercial and Religious Liberties: Addresses and Writings of Percy Andreae. Chicago, Ill.: F. Mendelsohn, 1915. Dohn, Norman Harding. The History of the Anti-Saloon League. 1959. Fisher, Irving. Prohibition at Its Worst. New York: Macmillian Company, 1926. Secondary Sources Asbury, Herbert. The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1950. Clark, Norman H. Deliver Us from Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition. New York: Norton, 1976. Kyvig, David E. Repealing National Prohibition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979. Sinclair, Andrew. Prohibition, the Era of Excess With a Pref. by Richard Hofstadter. Boston: Little, Brown, 1962.