Temperance Movement- Causes and Outcomes

A movement is organised by certain group of people to transfer their ideas from one part of society to another a movement has no bloodshed it is executed peacefully the motto of any movement is to follow an ideology.

The Temperance Movement is a social movement which was started to the make alcohol consumption free society during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This movement was against the consumption of alcoholic beverages or we can say to promote total teetotalism (abstaining from alcohol) in the society.

The prime objective of this movement was to teach negative aspect of alcohol and how alcohol impact on the health, personality, and family life and also to legitimised the prohibition. In other words, we can say it was a movement to promote alcohol education as well as to formulate the laws against the selling of alcohols.

This movement was spread to the countries like (especially English speaking countries) like North America, Europe as well as the Scandivian countries.

Causes of Temperance Movement

Before 17th century, alcohol was an important part of the lives of people but it was used for recreation and medicine. But after Industrial Revolution, alcohol consumption became common and perceived as a social problem. It was just because the need for sober labour to operate heavy machinery that came with the revolution began changing the general attitude towards alcohol. This consumption attitude was so evident that churches took up the call and began preaching against alcohol although it was not heard until the early stages of the 1820s.

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Outcomes of the Temperance Movement

The temperance movement was stuck in a midway because it has approximately same number of success story as well failed story.

1. In Britain, this movement was not fully legitimised by the legislature, but the number of pub and bar were reduced. The Prime Minister of that time introduced a bill for the closure of one-third of the pubs with the owners compensated through a new tax on surviving pups. But the proposal was strongly challenged by the Brewers, who owned the majority of the pub in the Britain. Brewers defeat the scheme in the House of Lords and at the end the movement was settled for the 1910 People's Tax.

2. One of the major success stories of the movement came from the United States where alcohol was prohibited the alcohol from the 1920 to 1933. This prohibition was formulated after the advent of Wayne Wheeler because he had prohibited the alcohol with an intellect technique which is popularly known as 'Wheelerism'.

Hence, we can say that the temperance movement perceived alcohol as as a social problem. Some people agreed that banning is not a solution, but balance used could be checked through law. Although, the movement had not large impact, but there are some organisation who work against alcohol such as World Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

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