Mob Mentality Research Paper

Mob Mentality is a term that describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union promoted prohibition strongly and wanted drinking banned for good.Prohibitions was the act of banning the use, manufacturing, and consumption of alcohol. The WCTU was founded in “Cleveland, Ohio in November of 1874”. (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) It was first an expansion of the “Women’s Crusade” that only lasted a year. These women believed that prohibition was “protection of the home”. This mob was not created for women who felt as if they could make a difference if they stood together as one. Prohibition is the period when the Eighteenth Amendment was in force and alcoholic beverages

Before becoming President of this Union, she was always very helpful and generous towards others. Wittenmyer opened free schools for underprivileged kids. It helped many of them to finally get an education. She was already very involved and dedicated to everything she did because she was a very religious woman. In the article Robert Martin states, “In 1864 she became an agent of the U.S. Christian Commission, in which capacity she made one of her most significant contributions. Early in the war, while visiting her brother in a military hospital, she recognized that appetizing and nutritious meals were essential to the recovery of wounded and diseased soldiers.” (Martin, Robert F.) This shows how much she loved helping people and that most of the achievements she had greatly benefited people. Although, she was the first president, Frances Willard (second president) was evidently more passionate than Wittenmyer. Willard was very vocal about what she wanted for the organization, but expanded the movement into other political problems. “Willard changed the WCTU from a conservative temperance organization into a broader women’s rights movement with a range of social concerns, including the right to vote” (Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard). Frances Willard made the WCTU what it is

Since this also was a group of women, in this time period, they would not be taken as seriously and would not be respected. That is why their tactics may be a little invasive because that is the only way someone would hear them. Later, they started to get taken more seriously. “For the next two decades Willard led the Temperance movement as the WCTU became one of the largest and most influential women’s groups of the 19th century.” (History.com Staff) The whole expansion of their platform made them stronger as a whole but were still vulnerable to criticism. They never did reach their main goal and that was banning the use or manufacturing of alcohol, but they did make a huge impact on women 's groups from there