Changes

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Americans have a complicated relationship with alcohol. Even before they established Plymouth, William Bradford lamented that the puritanical Pilgrims were ready to go to the mainland as their “victuals [were] much spent, especially our Beere (sic).” Both Virginia and Plymouth had vibrant alcohol industries, and during the colonial period many backcountry farmers found distilling spirits or fermenting cider to be effective ways of preserving their agricultural production. The heavy reliance on molasses, rum, and sugar in the colonies also created an interwoven trade network crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean, providing a source of income and building dependencies across the European colonial holdings.

====The Progressive Era and Prohibition====

The Progressive Era, which overlapped with the growth of the WCTU and the construction of temperance fountains, was a period of upheaval in the United States that in some ways mirrors the reform movements of the 1830s. Once again, there was a great surge in the belief in the perfectibility of human society. One difference, however, was the equally firm belief in the role of the government in implementing this perfect society. While the WCTU and the temperance fountains relied on appeals to the morality of individuals, the Progressive Era attempted to bring about societal change through the enforcement powers of government.

Natural landscapes, political processes, economic and industrial power, and individual morality all came under scrutiny for regulation by newly powerful state organizations interested in the creation of an orderly society ruled by certified experts. The Progressive Era also encouraged participation in government and benefitted the Prohibition Movement with the passage of two other constitutional amendments, the 16th, and 19th amendments. The 16th amendment allowed the federal government to levy personal income taxes, which provided a new revenue stream that could replace excise taxes placed on alcohol. The 19th amendment granted the right to vote to women, who were proportionally more likely to support prohibition.

In addition to these national political trends, there were societal changes that also spurred the United States towards a national prohibition of alcohol. As the nation continued to industrialize, some of the same concerns about discouraging drinking resurfaced, but the nation was also divided over prohibition along ethnic lines. Roman Catholics, who were largely part of the “new immigrant” waves that dominated the latter 19th and early 20th century, rejected any proposed ban on alcohol. Many major Protestant churches, including Methodists and Baptists, favored prohibition as a moral issue.

====Prohibitions Problems====

In the early days of prohibition, enforcement was straightforward. Many of the iconic images from this period show federal officials breaking bottles of alcohol or dumping barrels of beer into open drains. Despite these dramatic scenes, large swathes of the nation were not ready to give up the intoxicating liquid. Wherever there is demand for a product, market forces will provide a supply. When the demand is for an illegal substance, that supply will also be illegal. As a result, Prohibition coincided with a spectacular rise in organized crime in the United States. Speakeasies, or illegally hidden saloons, sprang up in major cities across America. To provide the alcohol these establishments served, a whole network of illegal businesses dedicated to the production and delivery of alcohol appeared.

#Wilentz, Sean. ''The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln''. (2005)