The Temperance Movement

[donna]

It is written that the two greatest social movements of the 19th century were the abolitionist movement and the temperance movement. The temperance movement of the 19th century had a profound effect on America's drinking. It affected many taverns and drinking establishments of the 19th century.

Discomfort with the public use of alcohol can be dated back to time of Cotton Mather and throughout history in America affiliated with various Protestant Churches. It was a complex social and moral movement concerned with the defense of the home and family. It also had to do with self-discipline.

Several groups were formed in the 19th century to press for temperance. These included the Massachusetts Temperance Union, the Sons of Temperance, the Order of Rechabites, and the Cadets of Temperance.

The temperance movement would culminate in the 25th Amendment and the era of Prohibition.

A popular slogan used in Temperance Movement as to use of Alcohol was: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

 

[donna]

The Sons of Temperance was founded in 1842 in New York City. It became widespread in America. It was particularly popular in the South.
see:
https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/3983

The Cadets of Temperance was for males ages 12 to 18. It was formed in 1846 from the Sons of Temperance.
In Mark Twain's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", Tom joined the Cadets of Temperance. He really liked their uniforms and wanted to wear them

see:https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/cadets-of-temperance-promoted-total-abstinence/

 

[ErnieMac]

The 1840s seems to have been a good decade for the reform movements. The Seneca Falls kick off of the Women's Suffrage movement occurred in 1848. I know the Women's movement took a back seat to abolition. Was the temperance movement similarly impacted?

 

[Jimklag]

The Sons of Temperance was founded in 1842 in New York City. It became widespread in America. It was particularly popular in the South.
see:
https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/3983

The Cadets of Temperance was for males ages 12 to 18. It was formed in 1846 from the Sons of Temperance.
In Mark Twain's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", Tom joined the Cadets of Temperance. He really liked their uniforms and wanted to wear them

see:https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/cadets-of-temperance-promoted-total-abstinence/

The efforts of the temperance movement were laudable and their motives were pure. But, I have always cringed a little at efforts to legislate morality - to impose one's social attitudes on a whole society. When used with moderation and common sense, alcohol of and by itself is harmless. The effort to ban its use because a few people abused it was both futile and counterproductive. As was proven during the era of prohibition, folks are going to find a way to get beer, wine and liquor regardless of legality. And (here comes that law of unintended consequences again) prohibition led directly to the increase in the effectiveness, profits and violence of organized crime syndicates.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

My home town (Westerville) became known as the 'Dry Capital of the World' due to its being headquarters for one of the principal temperance societies:


http://www.westervillelibrary.org/AntiSaloon/


An interesting (if somewhat tenuous) Civil War connection at http://www.westervillelibrary.org/antisaloon-lincoln-lee-legion

 

[MaryDee]

Women who honed their organizational skills working with the Sanitary Commission and became leaders of that movement during the Civil War became active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and many other social movements after the war. Among them were Mary Livermore (my avatar), Louisa Schuyler, and Abby May.

The WCTU became more than a temperance organization; it spoke out against domestic violence, for child care and other services for working women, for free kindergartens, for shorter work weeks and safer working conditions (Source: Judith Giesberg, Civil War Sisterhood: The U.S. Sanitary Commission and Women's Politics in Transition. Boston. Northeastern University Press, 2000.)

 

[Bruce Vail]

As a young girl, my Mom was induced into becoming a junior member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She was never an active member, and happily disgraced the temperance principles of that group many times.

Family lore is a little hazy on this point, but it seems to have been her grandmother who encouraged Mom to join. She passed away in the 1930s.

 

[WJC]

My interest in the Civil War may have started when my grandmother gave me a small Temperance booklet carried by our ancestor, Corporal Rezin Baker, 61st Illinois Volunteer Infantry during his wartime service. Like all that branch of the family, he was a Methodist and believed strongly in abstinence in the use of intoxicating liquor.

 

[donna]

One of the most famous temperance ladies was Mrs. Carrie Nation. She was born in Woodford County, Kentucky in 1846. Mrs. Nation's first saloon smashing was done in a barroom of the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas on December 27, 1900.

She was know for her hatchet and raided many a bar, smashing everything. As erratic as Mrs. Nation's life had been, she was responsible for the greatest prohibition awakening in Kansas. She passed away on June 9, 1911 in Leavenworth, Kansas.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

There is a naval angle to this as well... [waits for groans to die down]

There were several significant reform movements in the Navy in the 19th Century; among the more notable were the abolition of flogging and the temperance movement. The advocates for both movements were frequently (though not always) the same people.

The temperance movement in the Navy often took the form of pledges, and was encouraged by a light increase in pay in lieu of the daily ration of liquor (traditionally rum, but whiskey was also served out to the men aboard American naval vessels when rum was not available). If all of the sailors aboard a vessel 'took the pledge,' the ship was known around the fleet as a 'temperance ship.' Among the first of these was the frigate/razee Cumberland (later sunk by the CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads during the war).

One of the more noted temperance advocates in the Navy before the war was Andrew Hull Foote, who became the commander of the Western Gunboat Flotilla in late 1861 - mid 1862.

In 1862, by act of Congress, the rum ration was abolished in the U.S. Navy. However, alcoholic drinks were still permitted to officers, until that too was prohibited in 1914.

There is a certain amount of discussion of the issue in the "anonymous journal" kept aboard the U.S. gunboats Carondelet and Lafayette in 1862-3 (once attributed to Thomas Lyons, but I have established that the author was captain's steward Terry P. Robinson). Robinson was a 'temperance man' who does not seem to have been shy about expressing his opinions to his skipper, Commander Henry Walke. Walke does not appear to have been a heavy drinker, but was fond of a particular sort of ale which he often served to visiting officers, and on at least one occasion Walke seems to have found it necessary to tell Robinson to 'keep his temperance morals to himself.' Walke also was known to have 'spliced the main brace' (issued rations of liquor to the crew) after the Carondelet ran the Island No. 10 batteries; his superior Foote would likely have been aghast, but Foote was on the other side of the batteries...

 

[huskerblitz]

A popular slogan used in Temperance Movement as to use of Alcohol was: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

I'll drink to that!