preview

The Temperance Movement Of The Early 1900 ' S

Good Essays

During the early 1900’s America was in its “Gilded Age”. The economy was booming and everyone seemed to be happy from the outside. But, there were many problems going on in the United States. In the factories where most people worked there were corrupt bosses, the people were overworked and there was child labor. The only salvation that these people had was to drink. The workers drank to calm down and feel no pain. But this destroyed families because they were almost constantly drunk. They would sometimes lose their only job because of the drinking. So, a lot of religious groups and many women started the temperance movement. There have been many people who have supported temperance in the past and it dates all the way back to when the Bible was written. Eventually the 18th Amendment was passed on January 26th 1919. This amendment was known as the “Noble Experiment”. This turned out to be a complete failure. This law was impossible to enforce because of the corrupt police and there was alcohol almost everywhere. In this paper I will go over alcohol use, attempts to fight alcohol abuse, and the rise in crime due to the money that could be made in corruption.

Alcohol has been around for ages. There is evidence of alcohol in China in 7,000 b.c. The average amount of calories in a glass of beer is 150 calories, 125 calories for a glass of wine, and 100 calories for liquor. Fermented beverages have been around for thousands of years. They existed in early Egyptian

Get Access