An influential reform movement of the 19th century is the temperance movement. The temperance movement took place during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was started with the intent to lower the intake of alcohol. The movement was mainly led by women and their children, who were victims of their drunken husbands and fathers and their actions at home. Alcohol was sort of a taboo, because it was considered to be the reason for the bad in society, like health problems, destitution, crime, etc. The movement, over time, gained a lot of political influence. This led the government to take action. Alcohol laws were placed to regulate alcohol intake. Earliest evidence of temperance organizations were found at Saratoga, New York, in 1808 and in Massachusetts in 1813. The movement quickly spread and everyone was talking about it because of the church. By 1833, there were 6,000 local societies in several states.
The temperament movement originated because of Benjamin Rush’s 1784 tract, “An Inquiry into the Effects of Arden Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind.” In this tract, the excess of alcohol was considered injurious to health. Lyman Beecher, a preacher, was a significant leader of the temperance movement. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) played a major role in the movement. It began in 1874 and grew substantially ever since. Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was another very
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She noticed that he used to be very abusive and violent towards herself and her kids. She, along with a group of other women in the same situation started the temperance movement. As an effect of the temperance movement, laws were enacted that banned alcohol. This came to be known as the 18th amendment. Unfortunately after a while, alcohol was brought back in the form of the 21st