Conferences Discussed Prohibition Movement Culminated Passage 18th

¶ … conferences discussed prohibition movement culminated passage 18th Amendment Constitution supporting statutes call Prohibition. Between 1920-1935 sale alcoholic beverages heavily controlled. This essay will explore the underlying factors that motivated temperance movements, subsequently, the Prohibition, in relation to alcohol consumption before and after the Civil War. It will address some earlier perceptions regarding alcohol and the shift in beliefs over its consumption. Ultimately, some short-term and long-term effects of the Prohibition will be revealed. Key terms: alcohol, moderation, temperance, Prohibition, saloon, bootlegging.

Long before the start of colonization in the New World, alcohol had played a significant part in people's lives. Not only was it customary habit to drink on a regular and daily basis but alcohol generally was regarded as part of God's creation, thus "inherently good." The colonies placed the foundation for the American legacy of alcohol consumption that was to be thoroughly moderated. Moderation was not merely religiously proclaimed but was regarded as task efficient and in relation to economic stability.

Although drunkenness was not necessarily stigmatized, throughout the years, government officials began addressing alcohol abuse as a resurging and threatening societal issue. This became more so prominent when industrialization changed the input of work environments, the latter relying more and more on technological processes and on people's capability to coordinate these. Moreover, because of technological developments, alcohol production increased and so did consumption due to availability and accessibility. Merely between a span of thirteen years, during 1900-1913, production of beer alone boosted from 4.6 billion to 7.6 billion liters.

Gradually, "drunkenness would come to be defined as a threat to industrial efficiency and growth." Various laws were passed therefore from as early as 1697 in order to instate officially control over alcohol consumption. It was thus because of an increase in alcohol abuse which was morally disregarded that state officials were motivated to enact laws in this respect. And it was as well because of increased concerns over people's health and work abilities that enactments followed frequently.

Laws in relation to alcohol prohibition were means by which the government sought to attain specific ends that ultimately defined the livelihood of society as a whole. It was thus not concerns over individualistic well being alone but contrivances to ensure the effectiveness of interrelated societal processes that motivated alcohol prohibition laws. Alcohol related perceptions gradually turned from moderated propaganda to absolute prohibition when beliefs over its negative effect on people increased substantially.

By the nineteenth century, there was a shift in perception regarding alcohol consumption and more often, "alcoholism" as health abnormality was regarded as the foreground for health degradation and human decay. Violence, crimes, mortality began to be associated with alcoholism and surging ideas that "alcohol was addicting and that this addiction was capable of corrupting the mind and body" contributed to further temperance enactments and ultimately prohibition. Even before the Civil War unfolding there had been various law enforcements which proved successful.

The post-war circumstances led to a reinforcement of such movements. Insecurities created by the Industrial Revolution, such as rich people seeking financial benefits in the majority's detriment, a poor majority, led to heavy drinking, as people turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Subsequently, poverty, unemployment, etc. were considered underlying effects of alcohol abuse. A vicious circle was created thus within which alcohol was no longer consumed in socializing environments and for inducing entertainment but to enforce disruption from daily insecurities.

The most important factor that contributed to the spreading of temperance movements and finally, prohibition, was the change of view regarding alcohol itself. In years to come, the latter would no longer be regarded as simply invasive but indeed, empirical studies would focus on alcoholism as a disease and its negative effects on the individuals and the overall environment. From this standpoint and with substantial scientific evidence to support claims over the disastrous outcomes of alcohol abuse, governmental positions began propagating the idea that absolute abstinence is the solution.

More and more people who had previously disregarded alcohol on either moral or religious grounds, were now more so motivated to draw attention to the threatening conditions it imposed when consumed immoderately. And because some individuals, it was considered, were unconsciously bound to adopt an addictive habit, the resolving method was none other than to eradicate completely alcohol consumption. Scratching the surface of the Prohibition, on a short-term, consequences were favorable, "the decline in drinking in the working-class and immigrant neighborhoods" having been acknowledged at the end of the 1920s.

Moreover, it served for the propositions and materializing of alternative entertainment environments which brought together people from all walks of life. The outcome was that of a "popular culture in America to which many had contributed and in which all could participate," Madelon Powers noted. It should be stated that the saloon culture characteristic of the working class, which had encouraged alcohol consumption for a long time, came to an end in the Prohibition Era.

This was what led to the apparition of the popular culture which brought together immigrants of various nationalities, individuals from different classes, etc. who would gather in basically alcohol-free environments (amusement parks, baseball games, etc.) to enjoy themselves regardless of existent differences. However, while it banned production, the Prohibition actually encouraged drinking at home and cocktail parties date from this period. Moreover, crime was expected to drop considerably as a result of the Prohibition; instead, it boosted organized crime due to bootleggers who were illegally producing and commercializing alcohol.

Bootlegging subsequently led to corruption and further violence within and between groups of organized crime with further effects on the population and the economy. However, not every long-term effect was negative and it was during the Prohibition Era that the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) organization was formed. Bibliography Blocker, Jack S. "Did Prohibition Really Work? Alcohol Prohibition as a Public Health Innovation.".