Here's Where It Gets Interesting - Women Vs. Whiskey: The Rise of the American Temperance Movement

Episode Date: December 12, 2022

Did you know that, in the late 1800s, Americans were drinking three times the amount of alcohol we consume today? On this episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, you'll get a crash course in the history of drinking in America. Learn why Whiskey became the most-consumed spirit, which Former president tried to smuggle in 500 bottles of French Wine without paying taxes on them, and how the Women's Christian Temperance Union chose to voice their support for Prohibition (there's some bar smashing involved). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Buy from dysoncanada.ca. With ANC on, performance may vary based on environmental conditions and usage. Accessories sold separately. Hello, friends. Welcome. I am so glad to have you here. Today, we're going to talk about a little movement that began brewing in the 19th century. And that pun was intended because many Americans have long enjoyed the pastime of drinking. In fact, by the late 1800s, Americans were drinking three times the amount of alcohol we consume today. Let that sink in for a second. People were seriously drinking massive quantities

of alcohol. And even though most beer was less potent than it is today, it was common for people to drink during every meal. And for any occasion, drinking was truly a cornerstone of American culture. But not everyone was a fan. Some people, particularly women, were concerned about its harmful effects on families and communities. So let's dive in and let's talk about the early rise of the temperance movement in America. I'm Sharon McMahon, And here's where it gets interesting. On a chilly January night in 1901, a group of men sat in a Kansas saloon over their mugs of ale and whiskey. When out of the blue, an older woman caught them all by surprise. She burst through the doors and made a beeline for the bar, smashing every bottle of liquor she could get her hands on. The men recovered from their shock quickly.

They'd heard about this whirlwind, destructive woman. Her name was Carrie Nation. And for weeks, she had been busting up bars all over the state of Kansas. Her antics made headlines. A writer in the weekly Clarion Ledger didn't mince words, saying, Mrs. Cary Nation is giving the saloon people of Kansas a great deal of trouble. She has entered several saloons and, failing to induce the proprietors to close them, proceeded to smash the whiskey bottles and glasses. She's sometimes arrested, seated to smash the whiskey bottles and glasses. She's sometimes arrested, but this has not deterred her. She is still on the warpath, and the report comes that the saloon men are preparing to

barricade their doors on her approach. All are afraid of her. On March 31st, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a now famously quoted letter to her husband, John Adams. He was away from home and helping to frame what would become the Declaration of Independence. In her letter, she wrote, I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And by the way, in the new code of laws, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation. This letter becomes known as Avgale's Remember the Ladies speech. And it is held up as the beginning of the women's

rights movement in the United States. Abigail recognized that there was potential in this moment for a new precedent to be set, new ways in which her husband could help shape the country. And it was an opportunity to evolve the roles of women. In colonial America, women's roles in society were dictated by a legal term we've yet to talk about, coverture. Coverture refers to the legal status of women, or more correctly, the fact that women had no legal identity at all. When a girl was born, her legal status and rights were covered under her father's identity. And when she married, she was covered under her husband's. Meaning that when a man and a woman married, they became one legally.

And that one was the husband. Married women could not own land or property. They couldn't build their own businesses. They couldn't vote. They couldn't file a lawsuit. They could not claim their own wages if they worked. And they were not even the legal guardians of their children. Lawfully, a woman, her possessions, and her children belonged to her husband.

Legally, a woman was her husband's property. And we've seen coverture play out in a number of ways for our first ladies, right? Rachel Jackson could not divorce her first husband. He had to divorce her. Estates, when bequeathed to daughters or widows like Martha Washington's became the property of their husbands when women married. Historically, European and colonial women were expected to marry, have children, and run their household. The late 17th century saw a rise in an ideology called the cult of domesticity. The idea that a woman's greatness was fulfilled through pursuing a status of wife, mother, and homemaker, and by keeping their piety and purity intact. And coverture was not just a legality, but a coveted aspiration.

Girls were taught that moving from their father's protection to their husband's, was a woman's true calling in life. But by the time the Revolutionary War ended and the United States of America gained its independence, there was a subtle political and economic shift in the model for womanhood. Instead of being looked upon as property, women were being recognized for their ability to nurture and raise boys who would grow up to strengthen the legitimacy of the new nation. looked upon as property. Women were being recognized for their ability to nurture and raise boys who would grow up to strengthen the legitimacy of the new nation. Giving wealthy white women a basic education became acceptable and encouraged so that they could properly raise their sons. This was a gain for women, but really only slightly. The National Women's History Museum

explains that women's education expansion was not meant for their own benefit, but to place them in a position to mold future generations of men into good citizens and civic leaders. The evolution of women's role in society was key to building a strong republic. Women were given a civic duty to perform. They were tasked with having children and raising them well, not just for the prosperity of her husband's lineage, but for the continued health and wealth of the country as a whole. As women began to understand this shift in their role, they pushed back against restrictions that limited their sphere of influence to inside the home. They wanted more,

and they began to mobilize to attain it in the earliest days of what would become first-wave feminism. In the late 19th century, women's primary focus was to secure their right to gain influence by voting in public elections. But before there was suffrage, there was temperance. Temperance is the practice of restraining one's desires. And in the early 1800s, most American men had no moderation or abstinence, no restraint of desires. And in the early 1800s, most American men had no moderation or abstinence, no restraint of desires from the use of alcoholic beverages. So let's rewind a bit and let's take a quick look at the history of alcohol consumption. Nobody knows precisely when humans began to create fermented beverages, but there is early evidence that it was already being crafted in China over 9,000 years ago. Residue in clay pots

revealed that people were making alcohol from fermented rice, grapes, and honey. That drink had very low levels of alcohol, and historians believe it was an important part of cultural and political traditions used in rituals and feasting and trading. In the early 12th century, alchemists began to do deeper experimentation with the process of distillation. It led to an alcohol more concentrated than regular fermented beverages with a much higher alcohol content. These new forms of alcohol were termed spirits, and they were first used as medicine. But over time, they became an important commodity of trade, because where beer and wine would spoil fairly quickly, distilled alcohol liquids were much more shelf-stable. The practicality of spirits was exactly what the world needed.

For example, in long-distance sea voyages, there was no way to keep fresh water to drink aboard ships. to drink aboard ships. But by adding a small bucket of liquor to a barrel of water, it would keep the water from becoming contaminated, and crews faced less worry about dehydration. Before long, spirits became a popular form of currency, and by the 1600s, alcohol was fueling a robust global trade. But with this capitalist expansion, its role in society grew complicated. responsibility. By recycling properly, you help conserve resources, reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment. Toronto's Blue Bin Recycling Program ensures the majority of the right items are recovered and transformed into new products. Recycling right is important and impactful. Let's work together and make a difference, because small actions lead to big change. For more tips on recycling, visit toronto.ca slash recycle right.

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We are best friends. And together we have the podcast Office Ladies, where we rewatched every single episode of The Office with insane behind the scenes stories, hilarious guests and lots of laughs. Guess who's sitting next to me? Steve! It is my girl in the studio! Every Wednesday, we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from the office and our friendship with brand new guests, and we'll be digging into our mailbag to answer your questions and comments. So join us for brand new Office Lady 6.0 episodes

every Wednesday. Plus, on Mondays, we are taking a second drink. You can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits before every episode. Well, we can't wait to see you there. Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. When European settlers came to North American shores, they brought with them large amounts of brandy and rum. And while many colonists had deeply religious roots, their beliefs didn't include abstaining from alcohol consumption. Drinking was an accepted part of

everyday life at a time when no one knew what contaminants the water held. Moderation was their only rule. American colonists began making their own alcoholic beverages, producing hard ciders, rum, and some forms of wine and beer. But one spirit dominated them all. Whiskey. Corn and wheat farmers could easily generate income by distilling whiskey, and it often brought in a larger profit for farmers and agriculturalists than their crop shares. Fun fact about our first president, George Washington established a large distillery at Mount Vernon, where he produced his own bottles of brandy and whiskey. By the early 1800s, there were over 2,000 distilleries in the United States, okay? The United States was still small in the early 1800s, by the way. Okay, we're not talking like coast to coast, Alaska to Florida.

2,000 distilleries in a relatively small geographic area. And together, the 2,000 distilleries produced over 2 million gallons of whiskey each year. Whiskey was cheaper to produce and purchase than beer, wine, cider, or frankly, even milk, coffee, and tea. And Americans leaned in. They consumed incredible amounts of alcohol. In fact, the average amount of alcohol consumed by early Americans may have been more than any other civilization in human history. A great example of this comes from the receipt from a 1787 party given by George Washington in Philadelphia after the Constitutional Convention. Many of the framers were there, including Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. And the receipt tells us that there

were 55 guests and that they drank. Please sit down. Hold on to your hats. Okay. The 55 guests drank 114 bottles of wine, 22 bottles of porter, 12 bottles of beer, 8 bottles of whiskey, 8 bottles of hard cider, and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch. It's absurd. It's an absurd amount of alcohol. It makes college parties look tame. Can you imagine the amount of tolerance that they had to build up even to be able to consume that amount of alcohol? Like their livers were working overtime. But it was also not just the elite class that was drinking high quantities of alcohol. Drinking was a widespread pastime.

In 1790, Americans consumed an average of six gallons of liquor annually. And I say Americans and not adults, because there was no minimum drinking age in the late 1700s, right? No one was policing who drank and at what age. By 1830, that six-gallon figure rose to over seven gallons. In contrast, seven gallons. In contrast, Americans today consume about two gallons of liquor in a year. In his book, The Alcohol Republic, historian W.J. Rohrbach explains alcohol was pervasive in American society across all class lines. Americans drink at home and abroad, alone and together, class lines. Americans drank at home and abroad, alone and together, at work and play, in fun and in earnest. They drank from the crack of dawn to the crack of dawn. Taverns were filled every night. They drank with meals, before meals, after meals, and while working. And I'm sure you remember from previous episodes where we have talked about how people in early America voted in taverns.

Drinking was embedded deeply into the American framework. Europeans who visited the young nation were appalled at what they witnessed. One visitor told a British newspaper, One visitor told a British newspaper, Americans are certainly not as sober as the French or Germans, but perhaps about on a level with the Irish or more. Foreign visitors weren't the only ones who were judgmental about this lush behavior. Some Americans voiced their concerns. Late in his life, John Adams wrote to some friends, it is mortifying that we Americans should exceed all other people in the world in this degrading, beastly vice of intemperance. Not that Adams was first in line to moderate or give up his

own drinking habits, mind you. He reputedly started each morning with a gill of hard cider. And while a gill is around three ounces, just a few sips, he also once attempted to use his diplomatic station to bring several hundred bottles of French Bordeaux into the U.S. without paying taxes on them. He failed, by the way, and ultimately got Thomas Jefferson, who had dual citizenship, to do it for him. There were a variety of reasons for Americans to drink so much and so often. In addition to the lack of decontamination practices that would regulate safe drinking water, alcohol helped men as they worked outdoors through the cold months. water. Alcohol helped men as they worked outdoors through the cold months. Employers would provide employees with warming whiskey so they could keep laboring despite the weather. There was also a

widespread belief that alcohol was helpful in settling a sour stomach. And this was important because not only did Americans drink a lot, they ate a lot, too. They'd eat as much as they could, as fast as they could, and then wash their meals down with liquor, assuming it acted as an antacid. Europeans would bring stopwatches on their visits, and as a sport, time how fast Americans ate. One aghast visitor said, As soon as food is set on the table, they fall upon it like wolves on an unguarded herd. It is true that even today, Americans have a reputation for eating quickly,

for not slowly savoring their meals, as is prominent in other European cultures, right? And taverns were the center of social life. They played a very prominent role in early America. They were public spaces where men gathered to discuss news, organize movements. They would drink and play cards. And time spent in those bars grew exponentially in the 1800s. And drunkenness became rampant. 1800s, and drunkenness became rampant. Extreme drinking was recognized as a disruption to society, but it was seen as an individual problem, not a cultural one. Social occasions like weddings, barn raisings, elections, christenings, and funerals were all celebrated as opportunities to indulge.

Hard drinking was everywhere. And the women at home and living under coverture grew frustrated. Men who drank to excess developed health problems. Many grew violent, starting fights in taverns or assaulted their wives at home. Under coverture, domestic violence and assault was legal. Men could harm their wives and suffer no legal consequences. And because alcohol wasn't banned in many labor-intensive workplaces, drunkenness caused accidents, permanent injuries, and a loss of income for families. And even in less extreme cases, men would habitually drink up all of their wages at the taverns after work, leaving

nothing for their families. Impoverished households grew to alarming levels. grew to alarming levels. So what was the one public space where it was socially acceptable for women to congregate during the 1800s? Church. Women began mobilizing and exchanging ideas with the support of their religious institutions. Through the churches, women began to call for total abstinence from all liquor. They worked to persuade men to sign abstinence pledges, which were elaborate pieces of paper indicating that the signer was committed to quote, the fruits of temperance, domestic comfort, favor of God, peace and plenty, health of body and soul, and eternal happiness. The fledgling temperance movement was not messing around, y'all. They were not asking people to cut back a little. No, they wanted people to stop drinking

altogether. The earliest temperance organizations seem to have sprung up in the northern states in Saratoga, New York in 1808 and then in Massachusetts in 1813. But the movement spread quickly under the continued influence of the churches so that by 1833, there were 6,000 local temperance societies across multiple U.S. states. thousand local temperance societies across multiple U.S. states. In 1826, a national organization, the American Temperance Society, formed to convince the public that alcohol led to the loss of morality in men, which destroyed communities and threatened the very stability of the country. Just under a decade later, in 1835, over two million men had signed temperance pledges to curb their alcohol consumption. Temperance organizations continued to push

for success, and by the 1840s, drinking had dropped to half of what it had been in the 1820s. what it had been in the 1820s. But as community alcohol consumption saw a dip, there was one place it still flowed freely, and in excess, politics. After the Civil War, temperance organizations began to evolve their efforts. Instead of relying on the word of men who signed temperance pledges, they concentrated on education and lobbying for new laws that would act as a barrier to excessive drinking. But in the 1830s, not only were there no federal laws that limited alcohol consumption, there weren't political campaigning regulations either. campaigning regulations either. Today, we have lots of state and federal rules about campaigning tactics and political candidates can't, you know, like directly bribe voters on their way to the polls anymore. But in 1830, voting day was a complete free-for-all. Candidates would set up booths at the polls and hand out alcohol to voters in an effort to gain their vote. Author and journalist George D. Prentiss wrote a piece on voting in the South after witnessing an 1830s election.

In it, he said, an election in Kentucky lasts three days. three days. During that period, whiskey and apple toddy flowed through our cities and villages like the Euphrates and ancient Babylon. A number of runners, each with a whiskey bottle poking its long neck from his pocket, were busily employed, bribing voters. However, the newly formed Whig party recognized that all this drunken behavior and revelry at the polls didn't exactly lead to the best outcomes for them. The Whigs had a strong temperance electorate made up of Protestants, evangelical Christians, business owners, and even though they couldn't vote, their persuasive wives. As the new political party mobilized in the 1830s, they catered to their predominantly northern upper-class supporters by embracing the concept of moralization, a movement to persuade

people to change their behavior by making good choices for themselves, and not because the law dictated the change. A good number of Whig members carried the opinion that it was disrespectful to both God and country to be a heavy drinker. The opposing party, the Democrats, whose electorate was made up of mostly Southern landholders, the working class, and rural settlers, were not pleased with the idea of a morality policing government. Their slogan became, the government that governs best is the government that governs least. It was the 19th century equivalent of get off my lawn. They didn't want anyone, especially the federal government, dictating their way of life or their rights around their property, banking, enslavement practices, or drinking customs.

As the temperance movement grew, southern states began to look at it as a slippery slope. If the federal government had the power to enact prohibition laws that shut down taverns or ban liquor sales, the overreach might expand into other areas as well. Nevertheless, the Whigs persisted with their temperance agenda, and in 1850, the party influenced the northern state of Maine to pass prohibition laws that banned the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The domino had been flicked. And over the course of the next four years, 12 more states passed prohibition laws. They were all in the north and the Midwest. Encouraged by their gains with temperance,

many mid-19th century activists were ready to mobilize for greater freedoms. They had been influencing changes surrounding women's education, prohibition, and even the abolition of enslavement. But it was all behind the scenes work. Women were not yet able to impact laws in the same direct way that men could, by voting. In the summer of 1848, both men and women activists gathered in western New York to hold the first official women's rights meeting called the Seneca Falls Convention. At the convention, they developed a list of things they wanted to change and based much of it on the Declaration of Independence. They sought for more reforms for women in education, politics, and labor. And they also advocated for the abolition of slavery and the right to vote.

These early suffragists referenced the success of temperance campaigns, using them as a guide on how to raise money, hold public meetings, conduct petition drives, and deal with hostile audiences. Four years later, some of the most famous early women's rights activists convened again in western New York, this time in Rochester, to hold the New York Temperance Convention. They continued to link abstinence from alcohol with the rights of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed 400 to 500 people and called for the complete rejection of alcohol, saying,

let us touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean thing. She advocated for divorce reform and the need to protect wives and children from their abusive, confirmed, drunkard husbands. Another group picked up the mantle of the temperance movement too. American evangelical Christians cultivated a belief central to their religious faith that a pure relationship with God was obtainable only through alcohol abstinence. American evangelical Christianity believed in the creation of a pure and sober world, and this principle became the driving force behind the formation of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in the aftermath of the Civil War. Christian Temperance Union in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Constitution of the WCTU called for the entire prohibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors

as a beverage. WCTU members were more aggressive in their tactics to police the drinking habits of men than their predecessors had been. They held pray-ins at local bars. Women surrounded the buildings, linked hands, and spent hours praying that the businesses would close. They hoped that their presence would deter men from entering, and the bar-smashing Cary Nation would become one of their most famous members. and Cary Nation would become one of their most famous members. Despite political tension and different temperance ideologies between Whigs and Democrats, the movement had little effect on the highest office in the land during the mid-1800s. Presidents Jackson, Van Buren, and Tyler did not engage in the wet or dry movements and saw no reason to spend their political capital giving it their attention. Alcohol flowed freely for guests in the White

House, and Julia Tyler, the glamorous first lady for eight months in 1844, filled her holiday parties with booze-laced eggnog and popped hundreds of bottles of champagne at her balls. But that changed when First Lady Sarah Polk, wife of 11th President James Polk, entered the White House. And in our next episode, we'll learn about Sarah's moral and religious influence on the office of the presidency and how it turned the tide of temperance towards prohibition. I'll see you next time. Thank you so much for listening to Here's Where It Gets Interesting. If you enjoyed this episode, would you consider sharing it on social media or leaving us a rating or review on your favorite podcast platform? All those things help podcasters

out so much. The show is written and researched by executive producer Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, and Sharon McMahon. Our audio engineer is Jenny Snyder, and it's hosted by me, Sharon McMahon. We'll see you again soon.