More on Temperance

The Temperance movement steadily gained a huge following worldwide, resulting in bans on alcohol. Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia/the Soviet Union and the United States all enacted bans on alcohol in the first decades of the twentieth century. In the US, the eighteenth amendment prohibited the sale and production of alcoholic beverages, beginning in 1920. Nearly fourteen years and three constitutional amendments later, Congress repealed the eighteenth amendment. But not before prohibition had wreaked havoc on the American alcohol industry. 

Temperance and Prohibition

Resistance to alcohol grew during the nineteenth century. Social conservatives worried about the affects of alcohol abuse on individuals and communities. In 1874, the first National Convention of the Women's Christian Temperance Union was held in the United States. The Union promoted the movement for prohibition in the States and tried to shut down saloons. They blamed male drinking for prostitution, child abuse and poverty.

History

 

Researchers say that social wine drinking probably began around 6,000 B.C. In some cultures, beer was for the villagers and workers, but wine was reserved for Royalty and the Upper Classes. The Romans are truly responsible for expanding the wine culture in the old world, mainly due to the sheer size of the Roman Empire.