Temperance Movement In The 1800's

Every person has their own way of thinking and each have their own vital interests. The age of reform that took place between the 1820-1840’s was a set of awakenings for the people of the communities to realize some things had to be changed. The “American Temperance Society, founded in 1826” was used to reduce the consumption of alcohol within the communities (Seagull 4th, 440). The temperance movement cause people to have different reactions, some considered it to be an attack on them. The antebellum temperance movement caused conflicts because it interfered with the Americans freedom, freedom means the people get to make their own choices not someone making them for them. Americans saw freedom as their way of expressing themselves individually. The consumption of alcohol was “a feature of festive celebrations and events like militia gatherings” (Seagull 4th, 441). Women didn’t consume as much or if at all alcohol during this period. Some people saw the movement as an invasion and critics of the life of an American. In the textbook Foner says, “Those Americans who enjoyed Sunday recreation or a stiff drink from time to time did not think they were any less moral than those who had been reborn at a religious camp meeting, had abandoned drinking, and devoted the Sabbath to religious observances (Seagull 4th, 441). Foner says those Americans who consume alcohol on Sundays or just once a week are not less morally to those who

It did molest Americans because it was seen as a way of “conducting their lives”. Conflicts up rise and made people feel obliged to ideas that weren’t their own. Where is the freedom in there? Reforms are just a group of people, who want their ideas to be heard and followed because they think is the best. That’s how some people felt bombarded with set ideals that does not go with their persona. Freedom is he ability to be yourself at any given time, and any given