The movement and eventual ban (justified by the Constitution) of the production,
importation, transportation and sale of alcohol is called Prohibition. Alcohol is classified as a
depressant, a substance that slows down the functions of the body and calms the nerves.
Therefore, consumption of alcohol alters the mind’s abilities to make rational decisions. In the
early portion of the twentieth century Prohibition was a nationwide movement to ban alcohol.
The nation was very divided on their opinions on alcohol, but it was still banned.This ban was
passed through the Eighteenth Amendment to the American Constitution in 1920 and lasted for
13 years, when the Twenty-First Amendment was passed as the first and only to repeal a
previous Amendment. What can be accounted for the success of the prohibition movement in the United States during the early Twentieth Century? Prohibition in the United States can be accounted to the increasing role of women in a modernizing society, the corruption of the government and economy due to the alcohol industry, and the violence alcohol produced. A large portion of the strength of the Prohibition movement came from the work of women. Since colonization of America, women had not had much say in American life or government. Men ran their households, men ran America, and women followed. Women felt inferior due to their lack of representation in their government, so they began organizing movements to support women’s rights. In 1848, with the Seneca Falls Convention, began the movement for women’s rights and suffrage that is arguably continued today. …show more content…
More specifically, women had been fighting the abuse of alcohol since the reform movements during the Antebellum era. But, the temperance pledges people would take in the 1820s wouldn’t last very long. Alcohol proved to cause increased tensions in the households of many Americans due to alcoholic abuse. Women often supported the Prohibition movement to protect themselves and their children. When a man were to come home from a late night of drinking, he would often times beat his wife if an angry drunk. Another way in which women sought to protect their family is financially. Many of the hard-working men would waste away their savings on alcohol, leaving their wife and children to have to live in worse conditions than their already below the standard of living. Carry A. Nation, in The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, says, “Truly does a saloon make a woman bare of all things!” [Doc A]. Nation describes that alcohol causes a woman to lose her husband, sons, home, food, and virtue. Many women were hurt by their husbands who spent all of their money on drinking while the family’s food and home couldn’t be paid for. As her husband was lost to her through alcohol, one day the woman’s son would be too. Nation, one of the many women to support prohibition provides reasoning behind why she and thousands of others put much effort into banning alcohol. Thomas D. West, in Back with the Saloon as a Safety First Measure [Doc C] supports closings saloons for a number of reasons, one including, “Third, all saloons should be refused licenses wherever girls and adult women who pass them must traverse lonely or squalid districts in their journeying to and from their homes. West believes the act of drinking poses a threat to the safety of women. His ideas of putting “safety first” are shared by the many women fighting to ban alcohol. Women didn’t want to be afraid to walk outside alone because of possible drunken harassers. Women wanted to feel safe and more importantly keep their children safe. Many men, though, did not walk alongside women in their fight towards Prohibition. In a cartoon by a cartoonist named Richards [Doc L cartoon], the unhappiness shared by men towards Prohibition is pictured. Written on a sign is, “ILLINOIS ELECTION- 1000 SALOONS IN THE STATE CLOSED BY WOMEN’S VOTES”. Partial suffrage for women allowed for women’s opinions to be heard prior to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment. Doc. L was published in 1914, before full women’s suffrage passed, so the cartoon indicates that women had some level of suffrage in Illinois prior to the Nineteenth Amendment. This, in turn, angered some men. In the cartoon, there are two men who believe
importation, transportation and sale of alcohol is called Prohibition. Alcohol is classified as a
depressant, a substance that slows down the functions of the body and calms the nerves.
Therefore, consumption of alcohol alters the mind’s abilities to make rational decisions. In the
early portion of the twentieth century Prohibition was a nationwide movement to ban alcohol.
The nation was very divided on their opinions on alcohol, but it was still banned.This ban was
passed through the Eighteenth Amendment to the American Constitution in 1920 and lasted for
13 years, when the Twenty-First Amendment was passed as the first and only to repeal a
previous Amendment. What can be accounted for the success of the prohibition movement in the United States during the early Twentieth Century? Prohibition in the United States can be accounted to the increasing role of women in a modernizing society, the corruption of the government and economy due to the alcohol industry, and the violence alcohol produced. A large portion of the strength of the Prohibition movement came from the work of women. Since colonization of America, women had not had much say in American life or government. Men ran their households, men ran America, and women followed. Women felt inferior due to their lack of representation in their government, so they began organizing movements to support women’s rights. In 1848, with the Seneca Falls Convention, began the movement for women’s rights and suffrage that is arguably continued today. …show more content…
More specifically, women had been fighting the abuse of alcohol since the reform movements during the Antebellum era. But, the temperance pledges people would take in the 1820s wouldn’t last very long. Alcohol proved to cause increased tensions in the households of many Americans due to alcoholic abuse. Women often supported the Prohibition movement to protect themselves and their children. When a man were to come home from a late night of drinking, he would often times beat his wife if an angry drunk. Another way in which women sought to protect their family is financially. Many of the hard-working men would waste away their savings on alcohol, leaving their wife and children to have to live in worse conditions than their already below the standard of living. Carry A. Nation, in The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, says, “Truly does a saloon make a woman bare of all things!” [Doc A]. Nation describes that alcohol causes a woman to lose her husband, sons, home, food, and virtue. Many women were hurt by their husbands who spent all of their money on drinking while the family’s food and home couldn’t be paid for. As her husband was lost to her through alcohol, one day the woman’s son would be too. Nation, one of the many women to support prohibition provides reasoning behind why she and thousands of others put much effort into banning alcohol. Thomas D. West, in Back with the Saloon as a Safety First Measure [Doc C] supports closings saloons for a number of reasons, one including, “Third, all saloons should be refused licenses wherever girls and adult women who pass them must traverse lonely or squalid districts in their journeying to and from their homes. West believes the act of drinking poses a threat to the safety of women. His ideas of putting “safety first” are shared by the many women fighting to ban alcohol. Women didn’t want to be afraid to walk outside alone because of possible drunken harassers. Women wanted to feel safe and more importantly keep their children safe. Many men, though, did not walk alongside women in their fight towards Prohibition. In a cartoon by a cartoonist named Richards [Doc L cartoon], the unhappiness shared by men towards Prohibition is pictured. Written on a sign is, “ILLINOIS ELECTION- 1000 SALOONS IN THE STATE CLOSED BY WOMEN’S VOTES”. Partial suffrage for women allowed for women’s opinions to be heard prior to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment. Doc. L was published in 1914, before full women’s suffrage passed, so the cartoon indicates that women had some level of suffrage in Illinois prior to the Nineteenth Amendment. This, in turn, angered some men. In the cartoon, there are two men who believe