The history of alcohol use in America goes back to the Pilgrims. On their trip from England to the New World the largest part of the ship’s supplies was Ale. In fact the Pilgrims stopped short of their preferred destination due to a lack of supplies specifically alcohol.
The first President of the United States, George Washington, was the largest distiller in the U.S. producing over 11,000 gallons of distilled spirits per annum in 1797. The Mount Vernon distillery is still in operation.
During the first 300 years of this country’s history part of a worker’s wages were often paid in rum.
Abraham Lincoln was a member of The Son’s of Temperance, an organization that exists to this day.
The United States has forever had a love affair with alcohol but all too often love affairs end in divorce. Not only is alcohol regulation a hot political topic so are the myriad of American Temperance Movements. Temperance groups have been springing up throughout America’s history, organizations like; The Washingtonians, The Anti-Saloon League, The Son’s Of Temperance and The Oxford Group.
In addition, the Eighteenth Amendment along with the Volstead Act became known as Prohibition or The Noble Experiment. The Anti-Saloon League was the primary lobbyist group supporting Prohibition.
It seems that the Great Depression was the end for Prohibition. The disenfranchised population didn’t like morality being mandated by the same people they viewed as causing their misery. Alcohol was sometimes the average person’s only friend.
In December 1933 the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was voted into law and the Eighteenth Amendment was officially repealed.
Though the laws and views changed partially due to the 18th and 21st Amendments; the destruction caused by alcohol has never changed. Alcohol is a poison to the human body and regardless of the law or social views that fact remains constant.
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