Prohibition
Prohibition was a movement to prevent the sale of alcohol in America. The illegal trade of alcohol was still prevalent in society. Prohibition was known as the “noble experiment.” This “noble experiment” was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses and improve health and hygiene in America. The results clearly indicate that it was a failure.
Prohibition had many supporters such as a group known as The Women’s Christian Temperance Movement Union. The WCTU was founded by Frances Willard. Frances’s main goal was to protect the home against drunken husbands and fathers. A strong force for the WCTU was Carry Nation. Although many disagreed with her tactics she helped shut down all the saloons in her town. Carry’s husband died of alcoholism. Carry would enter local saloons and sing temperance songs and destroy liquor barrels with her hatchet. Eventually Carry was arrested and sent to jail for a time but when she was released she began to campaign around the country. Carry sold autobiographies and miniature hatchets. In her speeches she equated prohibition with Christianity and said that “only prohibitionists who are free from the sinful license of drinking will attain heaven.” Another strong supporter of the WCTU was the wife of President Hayes. When her husband would have people over instead of serving alcoholic drinks she would make lemonade. Her refusal to serve alcoholic drinks got her the name “Lemonade Lucy.” The WCTU was just one of the many Prohibition groups.
The Anti Saloon League was a very strong force for prohibition. The ASL was founded in 1893 in Oberlin, Ohio and began its life as a state organization. The Anti Saloon league was an organization of employers that became the most powerful pressure group. The Anti Saloon League also operated the American Issue Publishing Company which helped them to spread ides of prohibition throughout the country. By...