Temperance

Temperance, term commonly applied to organized efforts to temper or abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages. In order to achieve their aims, most temperance organizations have, at one time or another, advocated the enactment of legislation prohibiting both the sale and the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Organized temperance sentiment in the United States may be traced to the early 19th century, when the first temperance societies were established in New York (1808), Massachusetts (1813), and Connecticut (1813). The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was organized in Boston in 1826. Soon, working with evangelical fervour, the society's members had established thousands of local and state auxiliaries. By 1835, temperance organizations across the country had about 1 million members. By 1855, following the lead of Maine, several states had passed laws prohibiting intoxicating beverages. General interest in temperance declined, however, during the American Civil War.

During the decade following the war (1865-1875), interest in temperance and prohibition revived nationwide. This was largely a result of public concern over the tremendous growth of the liquor industry in the 1860s and the involvement of the industry in local and national politics. Prominent in the temperance revival were the Prohibition party, organized in 1869, and the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), organized in 1874.

Although the Prohibition party never acquired much numerical strength, its influence was felt by both major US political parties, necessitating more careful scrutiny of candidates' characters, especially in local elections. Even more influential, however, was the massive evidence of over-indulgence collected and publicized by the several temperance organizations, particularly the WCTU and the Anti-Saloon League of America. By 1917 many railways had adopted regulations prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors by employees, and a number of industrial concerns had adopted similar rules. Since the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933, temperance sentiment in the United States has been negligible.

Temperance organizations were founded in Europe in the 1820s and 1830s and were especially strong in the British Isles and the Scandinavian countries, some of which also enacted prohibition laws in the period between the world wars. The international Order of Good Templars, formed in Utica, New York, in 1851, eventually spread to South America, Europe, and other continents where Europeans had colonies. As in the United States, however, temperance movements in other countries tended to lose ground during and after the Great Depression.