Alcohol and Drinking History in the United States of America: A Chronology

This chronology or timeline presents events in the history of alcohol and drinking in what is now the U.S. When events are listed as having occurred within a period of time, such as during the colonial period, they are listed before more specific periods such as the sixteenth century, which are listed before specific dates, such as 1563 or 1587.

Past

The Early Colonists

(The 16th and 17th Centuries)
Early immigrants to what is now the U.S. made alcoholic beverages from fruits such as...

The Colonial Period

(From 1700 to 1773)
Hard cider often served as a currency in the American colonies...

The New Republic

(From 1774 to 1829)
The nineteenth century brought a change in attitudes as a result of increasing industrialization and the need for a reliable and punctual work force...

Temperance Movement Calls for Abstinence

(From 1830 to 1869)
Most temperance organizations became convinced that the only way to prevent alcohol abuse was to...

Temperance Movement Grows

(From 1870 to 1889)
During the 1880s, a number of U.S. states adopted state-wide prohibition within their borders...

The Guilded Age

(From 1890 to 1912)
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union began a very damaging three year national boycott in the U.S. against root beer ...

Promising Future for National Prohibition

(From 1913 to 1919)
Over half the population of the country lived in areas in which prohibition laws existed...

Nation Welcomes Prohibition

(From 1920 to 1927)
National Prohibition in the U.S.went into effect January 16, 1920...

Nation Welcomes Repeal

(From 1928 to 1933)
The American Bar Association called for repeal in 1928. It had been urged to do so...

The Great Depression

(From 1933 to 1939)
Those states that maintained state prohibition had significantly more alcoholism...

World War II and the Cold War

(From 1940 to 1978)
The “ring pull” on beer cans was introduced in 1965...

Anti-Alcohol Sentiment Begins to Increase

(From 1980 to Present)
The United States has the highest national minimum legal drinking age in the world and the strictest youth drinking laws...

Future

Note: This website is informational only and does not make recommendations or suggestions about alcohol, drinking, legal matters, health, or any other subject and none should be inferred. Great effort has been taken to insure the accuracy of the materials presented but they cannot be guaranteed. Corrections and suggestions are invited.

Readings:

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Allen, Robert. Billy Sunday: Home Run to Heaven. Mott Media: Milford, MI. 1985.
Allsop, Kenneth. The Bootleggers. London: Hutchinson, 1961.
Asbury, Herbert. The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.
Asbury, Herbert. Carry Nation. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1929.
Asbury, Herbert. The Merry Antics of Izzy and Moe. In: Hyde, Stephen and Zanetti, Geno, (eds.) Players: Con Men, Hustlers, Gamblers, and Scam Artists. NY: Avalon, 2002.
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Baron, Stanley. Brewed in America: A History of Beer and Ale in the United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1962.
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Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years that Changed America. NY: Arcade, 1996.
Bickerdyke, John. The Curiosities of Ale and Beer: An Entertaining History. London: Spring Books, 1965.
Bland, Joan. Hibernian Crusade: the Story of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1951.
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Feldman, Glenn. Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1999. Feldman, Herman. Prohibition: Its Economic and Industrial Aspects. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1928.
Ford, Gene. Wines, Brews, & Spirits. 4th ed. Seattle, WA and San Francisco, CA: Gene Ford Publications and the Wine Appreciation Guild, 1996.
Furnas, J. C. The Life and Times of the Late Demon Rum. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1965,
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Gibbs, Joseph C. History of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. Penn Printing House, 1907.
Goode, Erich. Drugs in American Society. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 1999
Grimes, William. Straight Up or On the Rocks: A Cultural History of American Drink. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Hanson, David J. Preventing Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol, Culture, and Control. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995.
Hanson, David J. Alcohol Education. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.
Hanson, David. "Wayne Bidwell Wheeler." In: Garraty, John A. and Cames, Mark C., (eds.) American National Biography. N.Y.: Praeger, 1999, vol. 23, pp. 144-145
Haynes, Roy A. Prohibition Inside Out. NY: Doubleday, 1926.
Hellstrom, O. Henry. The Brewing Industry in Reading, Until 1880. Historical Society of Berks County website. berkshistory.org/articles/beer1.html.
Hill, Jeff. Defining Moments: Prohibition. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2004.
Hogan, Charles Marshall. Wayne Wheeler: Single Issue Exponent. Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati, 1986.
Hohner, Robert A. Prohibition and Politics: The Life of Bishop James Cannon, Jr. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1999.
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Jones, Bartlett C. Prohibition and Eugenics, 1920-1933. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 1963, 18(2), 158-173
Katcher, Brian S. Benjamin Rush’s educational campaign against hard drinking. American Journal of Public Health, 1993, 8(2), 273-281.
Kerr, K. Austin. Organized for Prohibition: A New History of the Anti- saloon League. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985.
Kobler, John. Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1973.
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Metcalfe, Philip. Whispering Wires: the Tragic Tale of an American Bootlegger. Portland, OR: Inkwater Press, 2007.
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Nelson, Derek. Moonshiners, Bootleggers, and Rumrunners. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks, 1995.
Nelson, Katherine. The Knights of Father Matthew. In (Jack Blocker, D. Fahey, I. Tyrrel, Eds.) Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
Neumann, Caryn E. The end of gender solidarity: the history of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, 1929-1933. Journal of Women's History, 1997, 9, 31-51.
Odegard, Peter H. Pressure Politics: The Story of the Anti-Saloon League. NY: Columbia University Press, 1928.
Ormond, Chart. Temperance Education in American Public Schools. Westerville, OH: American Issue Press, 1929.
Ossian, Lisa. Anderson, William Hamilton. In: Blocker, Jack S., et al. (eds.). Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: an International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2003, pp. 41-42.
Patterson, Michael S. The fall of a bishop: James Cannon, Jr., versus Carter Glass, 1909-1934. Journal of Southern History, 1973, 39, 493-518.
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?????????????? Santa Barbara, CA: ABC - Clio, 1985, pp. 230 and 249.
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