The US had the Anti-Saloon League. And Canada its Dominion Alliance. To be more specific, the Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic. The temperance movement began in Canada in the early nineteenth century. It was largely local. And it began in the eastern provinces. The movement began slowly. But it gradually …
Temperance trivia! It’s fun. Amaze yourself. Then impress your friends and family. Trivia A temperance “scientist” said that inhaling alcohol vapors could lead to defective children. And for three generations.1 Those vapors must be really powerful! A temperance newspaper warned of people who drink alcohol. If they gave birth to children, those will a inborn …
F.E.W. Harper was an author, poet, and public speaker. She wrote and spoke about temperance and abolition. And later she spoke on the right of women to vote. Frances Ella Watkins was born free in Baltimore. It was on September 24, 1825. She was orphaned by age three. Watkins’ aunt and uncle raised her. Her …
Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, MS on July 16th, 1862. That was during the the Civil War (1861-1865). She was born enslaved. Wells saw the link between enslavement by humans and by alcohol. So she promoted the temperance movement. In 1895, Ms. Wells married Ferdinand Lee Barnett. He published the first Black newspaper …
Martin Delany was an African American abolitionist and temperance supporter. Delaney was born in Charles Town, VA (now WV). He was the son an enslaved father and a free mother. That was in 1812. In 1843 he began publishing a newspaper Later, along with Frederick Douglass, they published The North Star. The newspaper promoted abolition. During …
Women and temperance were closely linked. The temperance movement relied heavily on their enthusiastic support. And they were essential to the establishment of National Prohibition (1920-1933). OVERVIEW I. Martha Washingtonians II. Daughters of Temperance III. Woman’s New …
People tended to call the the Ladies’ Temperance Benevolent Society the Martha Washingtonians. It rolls off the tongue so much easier. Six temperance activists, not all women, formed the Martha Washingtonians in New York City. They did so on May 12, 1841. Although not all of the organizers were women, only women could be members. …
The Sheppard Bone-Dry Act was also called the DC Prohibition Act. Officially, it was this. “An Act to prevent the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors in the District of Columbia and for other purposes.” The “for other purposes” refers to exceptions, penalties, and other matters. It was sponsored by Sen. Morris Sheppard in early …
John Morris Sheppard and prohibition were very closely linked. Sheppard became an ardent advocate of banning alcohol beverage sales. And he did so fairly early in his political career. He was in Congress from 1901 until his death in 1941. Sheppard served first as a representative and then as a senator. He was a progressive …
Temperance activists formed the Independent Order of Good Samaritans in New York City in 1847. It admitted African Americans to membership. Thus, it was the first fraternal group in the US “to recognize the humanity in man, no matter what his color.” The next year the Order admitted women. Then it became the Independent Order …
