Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

Reasons temperance supporters wanted Prohibition

• Which three groups of people were the main supporters of prohibition?

• Why did each of these groups oppose the consumption of alcohol?

Causes of Prohibition:

Women’s suffrage organisations argued that there was a clear link between the consumption of alcohol and domestic violence / child abuse

Industrialists such as Henry Ford were concerned that drinking alcohol reduced efficiency and output of work with sick days taken for hangovers

Religious Christian groups saw alcohol as the root of sin ad evil value (alcohol leads to committing sins)

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

• Who led the Women’s Christian Temperance Union?

• When was this individual alive?

• What nickname was given to this person?

• Why was this person passionate about the temperance movement?

• What did this person do to protest against the consumption of alcohol?

Women’s Christian Temperance Union:

• Carrie Nations (1846-1911)

• She became known as the “Kansas Bar Room Smasher”

• Carrie Nations believed in the direct action against the “demon drink”

• Her first husband had been an alcoholic

• She first smashed up a bar with a hail of stones

• She was frequently arrested for her violent methods of protest

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

The Anti-Saloon League

• Who was a prominent figure within the Anti-Saloon League?

• When was the Anti-Saloon League founded?

• Where was the Anti-Saloon League founded?

• How was the Anti-Saloon League effective?

• Give an example of when the power of “Wheelerism” was demonstrated.

The Anti-Saloon League:

• Wayne Wheeler (1869-1927)

• Founded in Ohio 1893

• Highly effective in lobbying the two main parties for support

• Power of “Wheelerism” demonstrated in 1906 when pressure from the Anti-Saloon League helped to defeat Myron Herrick, the ‘wet’ Governor of Ohio

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

The Prohibition Party

• Who was a prominent figure within the Prohibition Party?

• When was the Prohibition Party founded?

• When would Black first serve as the presidential nominee for the Prohibition Party?

• How long has the Prohibition Party been active?

The Prohibition Party:

• James Black (1823-1893)

• Founded in 1869

• Black served as the first presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party during the 1872 Presidential election

• The Prohibition Party is the oldest existing third party and is still in existence

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

Wet and Dry States

• By the turn of the 20th century, how many states were already ‘dry’?

• By 1917, what fraction of the majority of representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate were ‘dry’?

By the turn of the 20th century, 26 states were already ‘Dry states’.

By 1917, there was a two-thirds majority of ‘Drys’ in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Temperance Movement was looking for an excuse to ban alcohol - WW1 was this excuse.

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

Prohibition and The First World War

• How were the arguments from the ‘Drys’ impacted by WW1?

• Why was prohibition seen as patriotic during WW1?

• Why was beer given the nickname of the ‘Kaiser’s Brew’?

• When did President Wilson ban beer production?

  When did Wilson ban beer production until?

• Arguments of the ‘Drys’ were strengthened by the sense of discipline and responsibility that the national war effort required

• Many brewers were of German origin and therefore prohibition was seen as patriotic as anti-German feelings grew during the First World War.

• Beer was given the nickname of the ‘Kaisers Brew’ given its German origin

• In 1918, President Wilson banned beer production upon America’s entry into the war. Beer would be banned until the war had ended.

Topic 4, Lesson 4: Why was there increasing support for prohibition?

The Eighteenth Amendment

• What did the eighteenth amendment do?

• When was the 18th amendment introduced?

• How did the Volstead Act enforce the eighteenth amendment?

The end of WW1 saw perfect timing for the introduction of the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the production, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

The 18th Amendment was ratified (agreed) in January 1919 and came into effect in January 1920.

At the same time, the Volstead Act was passed by Congress to legislate methods to enforce Prohibition.