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Temperance movement

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"Temperance" redirects here. For other uses, see Temperance (disambiguation).
See also: Prohibition and Teetotalism
A cartoon from Australia.

A temperance movement is a social movement against the use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence, or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation.

Temperance movement by country

The Drunkard's Progress: A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier supporting the temperance movement, January 1846.

Australia

In Australia, the temperance movement began in the mid-1830s promoting moderation rather than abstinence. By the late 19th century a more successful abstinence-oriented movement emerged under the influence of the U.S. temperance movement. However, it failed to bring about prohibition despite a long campaign for local option. The movement's major success was in prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages after 6:00 in the afternoon, laws which led to the notorious six o'clock swill. This refers to the practice whereby customers would rush to drinking establishments after work and consume alcohol heavily and rapidly in anticipation of the 6:00 closing.

Canada

See also: Prohibition in Canada

Ireland

In Ireland, a Catholic priest Theobald Mathew persuaded thousands of people to sign the pledge, therefore establishing the Teetotal Abstinence Society in 1838.

Many years later, in 1898 James Cullen founded the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in response of the fading influence of the original temperance pledge.

New Zealand

In 1836, at the first recorded temperance meeting was held in the Bay of Islands (Northland).[1] The 1860s saw the foundation of a large number of temperance societies.[2] Many provinces passed licensing ordinances giving residents the right to secure, by petition, the cancellation or granting of liquor licenses in their district.[3] The Licensing Act of 1873 allowed the prohibition of liquor sales in districts if petitioned by two-thirds of residents.[4] Despite the efforts of the temperance movement, the rate of convictions for drunkenness remained constant in New Zealand.[citation needed] The rapid increase in the number of convictions for public drunkenness was more a reflection of the growing population rather than social deterioration.[citation needed]In 1886 a national body called the New Zealand Alliance for Suppression and Abolition of the Liquor Traffic was formed pushing for control of the liquor trade as a democratic right.[5]

Towards the end of the 19th century it became apparent that problems associated with settlement, such as larrikinism and drunkenness, were growing in society. Increasing urbanization heightened public awareness of the gap between social aspirations and reality of the young colony. Generalisations from newspapers, visiting speakers & politicians in the 1890s allowed development of large public overreaction and fervour to the magnitude of the problem of alcohol.[6] It became the firm opinion of a number of prominent New Zealanders that the colony’s problems were associated with alcohol.[citation needed] In 1893 the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act aligned licensing districts with parliamentary electorates.[6] Licencing Polls were to be held with each General Election. There were now three options to choose from. These were "continuance of the "status quo", reduction of the number of liquor licences by 25 percent, and local no-licence which would prevent public sale of alcohol within that electorate. Continuance and reduction only needed a majority, but local no licence needed three-fifths majority. From 1908 national prohibition became the third choice instead of reduction of licences - needing a three-fifths majority.[7] In 1894 Clutha electorate voted ‘no-license’ and in 1902 Mataura and Ashburton followed suit. In 1905 Invercargill, Oamaru and Greylynn voted ‘no-license’. In 1908 Bruce, Wellington suburbs, Wellington South, Masterton, Ohinemuri and Eden voted ‘no-license' and many wine makers were denied the right to sell their wines locally and were forced out of business.

In 1911 the Liquor Amendment Act provided for national poll on prohibition and the New Zealand Viticultural Association was formed to “save this fast decaying industry by initiation of such legislation as will restore confidence among those who after long years of waiting have almost lost confidence in the justice of the Government. Through harsh laws and withdrawal of government support and encouragement that had been promised, a great industry had been practically ruined.”[citation needed]

Pat pat got a pet rat and a nice hat and eat a rat that eata cat and hit hit it with a bat well it was on a matt. In 1911 a national referendum on prohibition was held with 55.8 percent in favour of prohbition, but not enough for the sixty percent majority required.[8]

In 1914 sensing a growing feeling of wowserism, Prime Minister Massey lambasted Dalmatian wine as "a degrading, demoralizing and sometimes maddening drink." Another referendum was held this year with 49 percent voting in favour of Prohibition. The three-fifths majority was replaced with a fifty percent majority. The 1917 election was delayed until 1919 because of World War I.[9]

On April 10, 1919 a national poll for continuance was carried with 51%, due only to votes of Expeditionary Force soldiers returning from Europe.[10] On December 7, 1919 prohibition won 49.7 percent of the vote. Of the 543,762 votes originally cast the prohibition lobby only lost out by 1632 votes. Of the 1744 Special Votes 278 were for Prohibition.[11] The pressure applied from the temperance movement crippled New Zealand's young wine industry post World War I.[citation needed] Restrictive legislation was introduced on sale of liquor, and by 1928 the percentage of prohibition votes begin to decline.[citation needed]

Sri Lanka

The Temperance movement in Sri Lanka was motivated by Buddhism. It was also a front line organisation in the National Independence Movement. Most of the early officers of the society were pioneers in gaining independence. "The Temperance Movement was identified as the foundation for the independence struggle and many were killed,". The "Sura Virodhi Vyaparaya" against alcoholism launched by Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala in 1895, was seen by the British rulers as a direct attack on their regime which rented out taverns to get revenue for government coffers. At that time there were 2,038 taverns. After the Temperance Movement agitation there was a drastic drop to 190.[12]

United Kingdom

Band of Hope Banner from Cornwall.[13]

In the United Kingdom, temperance as a mass movement originated in the 19th century. Before this, though there were diatribes published against drunkenness and excess, total abstinence from alcohol was very rarely advocated or practised. The earliest temperance societies, inspired by a Belfast professor of theology named John Edgar, who poured his stock of whiskey out of his window in 1829, concentrated their fire on spirits rather than wine and beer.[14] A more hard line attitude dates from March 1832 when Joseph Livesey started his Temperance Movement in Preston, requiring followers to sign a pledge of total abstinence.[15] The term Teetotal is derived from a speech by John Turner, a follower of Livesey, in Preston in 1833.[16] Livesey opened the first temperance hotel in 1833 and the next year founded the first temperance magazine, The Preston Temperance Advocate (1834–37).[17] The British Association for the Promotion of Temperance was established by 1835.[18]

The mass working class movement for universal suffrage, chartism,(1838 on) included a current called "temperance chartism". Faced with the refusal of the parlement of the time to give the right to vote to working people, the temperance chartists saw the campaign against alcohol as a way of proving to the elites that working class people were responsible enough to be granted the vote.

In 1847 the Band of Hope was founded in Leeds, with the stated aim of saving working class children from the perils of drink. The members had to pledge to abstain "from all liquors of an intoxicating quality, whether ale, porter, wine or ardent spirits, except as medicine"[19]

In 1853, inspired by the Maine law in the USA, the United Kingdom Alliance led by John Bartholomew Gough was formed aimed at promoting a similar law prohibiting the sale of alcohol in the UK. This hard-line group of prohibitionists was opposed by other temperance organisations who preferred moral persuasion to a legal ban. This division in the ranks limited the effectiveness of the temperance movement as a whole. The impotence of legislation in this field was demonstrated when the Sale of Beer Act 1854 which restricted Sunday opening hours had to be repealed, following widespread rioting. In 1859 a prototype prohibition bill was overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Commons.[20]

Despite this setback Quakers and the Salvation Army (founded in 1864) still lobbied parliament to restrict alcohol sales. Nonconformists were active with large numbers of Baptist and Congregational ministers being teetotal. In Wales Lady Llanover closed all the public houses on her estate and was an outspoken critic of the evils of drink.

The League of the Cross was a Catholic total abstinence organisation founded in 1873 by Cardinal Manning. In 1876 the British Women's Temperance Association was formed to persuade men to stop drinking. From 1880 to 1882 the cause of abstinence was revived by the Gospel Temperance or Blue Ribbon movement, based in America. They sent a member named Richard Booth to promote their cause in England through mass meetings held up and down the country.[21] In 1884 the National Temperance Federation, associated with the Liberal Party was founded.[22]

The temperance movement received an unexpected boost due to state intervention when the Liberal government passed the Defence of the Realm Act in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War. According to the provisions of this act pub hours were licensed, beer was watered down and was subject to a penny a pint extra tax.[23] This situation was maintained by the subsequent establishment of the State Management Scheme in 1916 which nationalised breweries and pubs in certain areas of Britain where armaments manufacture was taking place.

Between the wars American exponents of the sterling example set to Britain by National Prohibition, such as William "Pussyfoot" Johnson and Dr Armor, toured the country, to be met with derision and (in Johnson's case) violence.[24] In the end the dismal example of the complete failure of Prohibition in America put paid to any remote chance that the temperance lobby would succeed in achieving its aims in the UK.[25]

It should be recorded that the former Manchester City F.C. football stadium Maine Road took its name from a street that had been renamed Maine Road (from Dog Kennel Lane) by members of the Temperance Movement. They selected the name as a result of the 1853 Maine law.[26] Since the demolition of the stadium, the street's significance has reduced however it still retains the name as recognition of the works performed by the Temperance Movement in that area of Manchester.

Mathew James Fitzpatrick's in Rawtenstall is the last remaining temperance bar in the UK and still to this day provides the region with non-alcoholic beverages and cordials to refresh and invigorate the mind and body; the labels of their bottles bears one of the last temperance pledges to be signed in the area.

United States

'Sons of Temperance' Procession, Hill End, New South Wales, 1872. Image from collection of National Archives of Australia.
See also: Prohibition in the United States
See also: List of Dry States

As the American Revolution approached, economic change and urbanization were accompanied by increasing poverty, ordinances were relaxed and alcohol problems increased dramatically. Apparently influenced by Dr. Benjamin Rush's widely discussed belief that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to physical and psychological health, about 200 farmers [citation needed] in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association in 1789 to ban the making of whiskey. Similar associations were formed in Virginia in 1800 and New York State in 1808. Within the next decade, other temperance organizations were formed in eight states, some being state-wide organizations.

The future looked bright for the young movement, which advocated temperance or levelness rather than abstinence. But many of the leaders overestimated their strength; they expanded their activities and took positions on observance of the Sabbath, and other moral issues. They became involved in political in-fighting and by the early 1820s their movement stalled.

But some leaders persevered in pressing their cause forward. Americans such as Lyman Beecher, who was a Connecticut minister, had started to lecture his fellow citizens against all use of liquor in 1825. The American Temperance Society was formed in 1826 and benefited from a renewed interest in religion and morality. Within 12 years it claimed more than 8,000 local groups and over 1,500,000 members. By 1839, 18 temperance journals were being published. Simultaneously, many Protestant churches were beginning to promote temperance.

Temperance education

In 1880 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) established a Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction in Schools and Colleges, with Mary Hunt as National Superintendent. She believed that voters "must first be convinced that alcohol and kindred narcotics are by nature outlaws, before they will outlaw them.[citation needed]" Elizabeth D. Gelok was one of the women that taught Scientific Temperance Instruction at the Schools and Colleges for the students. She was also a member of the WCTU along with Mary Hunt. She was one of the most well-known a Scientific Temperance Instruction teachers[citation needed] Elizabeth decided to use legislation to coerce the moral suasion of students, who would be the next generation of voters. This gave birth to the idea of the compulsory Scientific Temperance Instruction Movement.

By the turn of the century, Mary Hunt’s efforts along with Elizabeth's and the other teacher's proved to be highly successful. Virtually every state, the District of Columbia, and all United States possessions had strong legislation mandating that all students receive anti-alcohol education.[citation needed] Furthermore, the implementation of this legislation was closely monitored down to the classroom level by legions of determined and vigilant WCTU members throughout the nation.

Temperance writers viewed the WCTU's program of compulsory temperance education as a major factor leading to the establishment of National Prohibition with passage of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Other knowledgeable observers, including the U.S. Commissioner of Education, agreed.[citation needed]

Because of the correlation between drinking and domestic violence—many drunken husbands abused family members—the temperance movement existed alongside various women's rights and other movements, including the Progressive movement, and often the same activists were involved in all of the above. Many notable voices of the time, ranging from Lucy Webb Hayes to Susan B. Anthony, were active in the movement. In Canada, Nellie McClung was a longstanding advocate of temperance. As with most social movements, there was a gamut of activists running from violent (Carrie Nation) to mild (Neal S. Dow).

For decades prohibition was seen by temperance movement zealots and their followers as the almost magical solution to the nation's poverty, crime, violence, and other ills. On the eve of prohibition the invitation to a church celebration in New York said "Let the church bells ring and let there be great rejoicing, for an enemy has been overthrown and victory crowns the forces of righteousness."[citation needed] Jubilant with victory, some in the WCTU announced that, having brought Prohibition to the United States, it would now go forth to bring the blessing of enforced abstinence to the rest of the world.

The famous evangelist Billy Sunday staged a mock funeral for John Barleycorn and then preached on the benefits of prohibition. "The reign of tears is over," he asserted. "The slums will soon be only a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs." [citation needed]

Anti-Saloon League

The Anti-Saloon League, under the leadership of Wayne Wheeler stressed political results and utilized pressure politics. It did not demand that politicians change their drinking habits, only their votes in the legislature. Other organizations like the Prohibition Party and the WCTU lost influence to the League. The League mobilized its religious coalition to pass state (and local) legislation (establishing dry states and dry counties). Energized by the anti-German sentiment during World War I, in 1918 it achieved the main goal of passage of the 18th Amendment establishing National Prohibition.

Temperance organizations

Temperance organizations of the United States played an essential role in bringing about ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution establishing national prohibition of alcohol. They included:

There was often considerable overlap in membership in these organizations, as well as in leadership. Prominent temperance leaders in the United States included Bishop James Cannon, Jr., James Black, Ernest Cherrington, Neal S. Dow, Mary Hunt, William E. Johnson (known as "Pussyfoot" Johnson), Carrie Nation, Howard Hyde Russell, John St. John, Billy Sunday, Father Mathew, Andrew Volstead and Wayne Wheeler.

See also

References

  1. ^ The temperance movement in New Zealand
  2. ^ ibid
  3. ^ ibid
  4. ^ Licensing Act of 1873, New Zealand
  5. ^ New Zealand Alliance
  6. ^ a b 1893 Act
  7. ^ Richard Newman 'New Zealand's Vote for Prohibition in 1911' in the New Zealand Journal of History. vol. 9, no. 1 (April, 1975), p. 53.
  8. ^ Paul Christoffel 'Prohibition and the Myth of 1919' in The Zealand Journal of History, vol 42, no. 2, October 2008, pp 156-157.
  9. ^ Christoffel, p. 156-157.
  10. ^ New Zealand referendum, 1919
  11. ^ Christoffel, p. 158.
  12. ^ Sri Lankan Sunday Times article
  13. ^ The Band of Hope Banner, illustrated, is in the Heritage Centre at the village of Constantine in Cornwall
  14. ^ Peter Fryer (1965) Mrs Grundy: Studies in English Prudery: 141-44. Corgi
  15. ^ Joseph Livesey— the poor people's friend
  16. ^ AskOxford: teetotal
  17. ^ Peter Fryer (1965) Mrs Grundy: Studies in English Prudery: 146. Corgi
  18. ^ Harrison, Brian (1971). Drink & the Victorians, The Temperance Question in England 1815-1872. Faber and Faber.
  19. ^ Nick Brownlee (2002) This is Alcohol: 99
  20. ^ Nick Brownlee (2002) This is Alcohol: 99-100
  21. ^ Peter Fryer (1965) Mrs Grundy: Studies in English Prudery: 153-4. Corgi
  22. ^ Sparatacus.schoolnet
  23. ^ Nick Brownlee (2002) This is Alcohol: 106
  24. ^ Peter Fryer (1965) Mrs Grundy: Studies in English Prudery: 171-3. Corgi
  25. ^ Nick Brownlee (2002) This is Alcohol: 107
  26. ^ James, Gary (2009). The Big Book Of City. James Ward. ISBN 978-0-9558127-2-9.
  27. ^ U-S-History.com

Bibliography

  • Jack S. Blocker, David M. Fahey, and Ian R. Tyrrell eds. Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia 2 Vol. (2003)
  • Bordin, Ruth. Woman and Temperance: The Quest for Power and Liberty, 1873-1900 1981
  • Ernest Cherrington, Evolution of Prohibition in the United States (1926). by dry leader
  • Ernest Cherrington, ed., Standard Encyclopaedia of the Alcohol Problem 6 volumes (1925–1930), comprehensive international coverage to late 1920s
  • Clark; Norman H. Deliver Us From Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition. W. W. Norton, 1976. supports prohibition
  • Dannenbaum, Jed. "The Origins of Temperance Activism and Militancy among American Women", Journal of Social History vol. 14 (1981): 235-36.
  • Heath, Dwight B. (ed.) International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995.a
  • Harrison, Brian Drink & the Victorians, the Temperance question in England 1815-1872, Faber and Faber, 1971
  • James, Gary The Big Book Of City, James Ward, 2009
  • Jensen, Richard. The Winning of the Midwest, Social and Political Conflict, 1888-1896 University of Chicago Press, 1971
  • McConnell, D. W. Temperance Movements. In: Seligman, Edwin R. A., and Johnson, Alvin (eds.) Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. , 1933.
  • Odegard, Peter H. Pressure Politics: The Story of the Anti-Saloon League. 1928.
  • Seabury, Olive The Carlisle State Management Scheme: A 60 year experiment in Regulation of the Liquor Trade, Bookcase Carlisle, 2007
  • Sheehan, Nancy M. The WCTU and education: Canadian-American illustrations. Journal of the Midwest History of Education Society, 1981, P, 115-133.
  • Smith, Rebecca. The Temperance Movement and Class Struggle in Vicorian England. Loyola University,[disambiguation needed] 1993.
  • Timberlake, James H. Prohibition and the Progressive Movement, 1900-1920. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963.
  • Tracy, Sarah W. and Caroline Jean Acker; Altering American Consciousness: The History of Alcohol and Drug Use in the United States, 1800-2000 University of Massachusetts Press, 2004
  • Tyrrell, Ian; Woman's World/Woman's Empire: The Woman's Christian Temperance Union in International Perspective, 1880-1930 University of North Carolina Press, 1991
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