Church Temperance Society (Protestant Episcopal Church)

The Church Temperance Society. That’s the short name of the Temperance Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America. The society was established in 1881 to promote temperance, “rescue” the intemperate, and eliminate the perceived causes of intemperance.

In promoting temperance, the Society considered the moderate consumption of alcohol acceptable. It also considered total abstinence from alcohol to be an equally acceptable option.

Other Activities: Church Temperance Society

In addition to  religious preaching, the Society engaged in other activities.

    • Church Temperance SocietyPromoting coffee houses as alternatives to saloons.
    • Prohibiting alcohol sales on Sunday.
    • Improving housing for the poor.
    • Prohibiting alcohol sales to minors.
    • Increasing fees and taxes on saloons.
    • Prohibiting alcohol sales to intoxicated people.
    • Restricting the number of saloons to one for every 500 residents.
    • Establishing local option laws. That permits local areas to impose local prohibition,
    • To support its views, the Society published a monthly paper, Temperance.

Two youth groups, the Knights of Temperance and the Young Crusaders, were outgrowths of the Society.

Other Temperance Groups

A number of similar groups, usually religious in nature, existed. They included these.

Readings