What Was The Temperance Movement In The 1800's

Alcohol is everywhere, from bars, to grocery aisle, and in the coolers of some redneck tailgate party; but believe it or not there was a time where alcohol was completely forbidden. The Prohibition era began from the temperance movement. People refrained from any alcohol for about 100 years. From the early beginnings of the temperance movements in the 1800s to the passing of prohibition, the lack of alcohol affected the country in a drastic way.
The Prohibition movement was the product of a different movement called the temperance movement. The temperance movement started when many opposed the consumption of alcohol because of their spouses abusing them while intoxicated. This piece of evidence shows why the temperance movement was created.

While the temperance movement influenced groups of people, the Prohibition era was the length of time where laws were passed, statewide, that banned the consumption and sales of alcohol. Maine was the first state to pass a “prohibition” law and many other states soon followed. Another commonality that Prohibition and the temperance movement shared was the support of women. Many women supported the passage of Prohibition laws, because they too saw alcohol as the cause of domestic abuse and the ruin of families. These women shared the same attitude to the women in the 1800’s. The Anti-Saloon League was very involved in attacking alcohol sales and Protestants saw the saloon culture as corrupt and ungodly. Alcohol sales had many enemies at this time and began to get a bad reputation from Protestants, and this made the want of Prohibition laws even stronger. The start of World War I prompted President Woodrow Wilson to place into affect a temporary wartime prohibition as an attempt to save the grain and use it to produce food instead of alcohol. This temporary prohibition was supposed to last for seven years, and under this prohibition alcohol would be banned from any kind of transportation, sales, consumption, and could not be manufactured. Finally, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act. Now that a national prohibition has been ratified, the lack of alcohol will affect the

Many people thought that the prohibition laws would be beneficial in the long run, which it did reduce the number of arrests due to drunkenness, but would prove to be a big problem for the economy. The support and glorification for prohibition backfired on the people and the government proving to cause more problems than they could fix. Alcohol sales brought a lot of tax revenue and now that it is against the law to sell any alcohol the country was not getting any money. The evidence shows how important alcohol was to the economy. On top of the economy losing such a successful good, the government had to pay a lot more than what they were receiving for enforcing the law. During this time, crime increased with bootlegging, the usage of speakeasies, and mobs selling alcohol illegally. Forbidden activities regarding the handling of alcohol was not the only type of crime on the rise after prohibition laws were passed, gambling and prostitution also saw an increase during this time. After the Prohibition was an enforced rule, it had a snowball effect that caused even more crimes than there was before alcohol became illegal (“History and Impact of Prohibition on America”). Prohibition also had a biological effect on the citizens that studies have shown to be true. People who were young children during prohibition were more likely to do better in school and be less obese