HST 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 43: Portland Rum Riot, American Temperance Society, Dorothea Dix
Document Summary
High rate of alcohol consumption prompted reformers to target alcohol as the cause of social ills. Protestant ministers and others concerned founded the american temperance society. It tried to persuade drinkers to take a pledge of total abstinence. In 1840, a group of recovering alcoholics called the washingtonians formed and argued that it was a disease that needed practical, helpful treatment. Various temperance societies had more than a million members. German and irish immigrants largely opposed this movement, but lacked the political power to prevent government from passing reforms. Factory owners and politicians joined the reformers when they realized it could reduce crime and poverty and increase workers" output on the job. He was the prohibitionist mayor in portland, maine who opposed the sale and manufacturing of liquor in maine. He supported the "maine law of 1851" and was criticized for the actions he took in the portland rum riot.
