Dbq Essay on Prohibition

1550 Words7 Pages
American history has included many reform movements to better the country, including abolition, women’s rights, and prohibition. One of these movements, prohibition, occurred between 1840 and 1930, and it involved reformers who tried to end the usage of alcohol to make America a safer country and fight against opposition. The movement of prohibition, which enforced temperance, brought different groups together in support of a common cause. It was very political and people advocated strongly for their beliefs, trying to influence others to share their views. Groups such as women, Christians, rural fundamentalists and conservatives supported prohibition. Their beliefs were influenced by religion, work, and personal experiences, and depicted with letters, newspapers/magazine, and speeches. There were also groups that opposed prohibition reform, however, which consisted primarily of rural Protestants, alcoholics, breweries, and those who believed prohibition would not help the alcohol problem. The largest and most active group of prohibition reformers were women. Women were against alcohol and did not want their husbands to drink. When the husbands would drink, they would get abusive emotionally and physically. They also would get drunk around their family and create an unhealthy environment for the children. As a result, mothers wanted alcohol abolished as soon as possible for the sake of their children, and they became a big part of temperance reform (Doc 5). Religious women also came together as one and forcefully rallied against the use of alcohol. They formed the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and had many members. Religious women believed in temperance because they believed it was for the sake of human good and that it was God’s will. They stopped using wine in their church ceremonies and used unfermented grape juice instead. The
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