As people moved from rural areas to urbanized ones, many in the U.S. This organization's members, like the Progressives, believed that society in the United States was in moral decline. On May 24, 1893, temperance advocates in Oberlin, Ohio, formed the Ohio Anti-Saloon League.
Progressives especially supported Prohibition, as these reformers tried to convince their fellow citizens to live a more moral lifestyle. If women were responsible for creating virtuous children, they contended that women should also play a role in helping those people who have become consumed by immoral acts redeem themselves.ĭuring the late 1800s, support for Prohibition-"the outlawing of alcohol's manufacture, transportation, and consumption"-gained tremendous support. Women involved in the temperance movement used this argument against the men, however. Most men believed that women were best suited for the home, and it was, according to the men, a woman's responsibility to raise virtuous children. Many of the earliest temperance advocates were women. In 1826, residents of Trumbull County formed a temperance society, and Summit County residents followed suit three years later. Many Ohioans participated in the temperance movement. The American Temperance Society published tracts and hired speakers to depict the negative effects of alcohol upon people. By the mid-1830s, more than 200,000 people belonged to this organization. The largest organization established to advocate temperance was the American Temperance Society. would forsake alcohol entirely, but most temperance advocates remained willing to settle for reduced consumption. Ideally, in their view, people in the U.S. Temperance advocates encouraged their fellow men and women to reduce the amount of alcohol that they consumed. One of the more prominent reforms was the temperance movement.
These people believed that in order to survive, the United States needed virtuous citizens who did not engage in immoral acts.īecause of these concerns, many people became involved in reform movements during the early 1800s. They feared that God would no longer bless the United States and that these people they considered ungodly and unscrupulous posed a threat to the U.S. Prohibition includes the attempts of many reformers to reduce, if not end, the consumption of alcohol.ĭuring the early nineteenth century, many citizens of the United States became convinced that many throughout the nation were living in an immoral manner. The women were protesting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Mader's Saloon in Bucyrus, Ohio during the Women's Temperance Crusade of 1873-1874. A group of women kneeling on the sidewalk outside of J.