“The Saloons Must Go!”.“Anti-saloon League” and the Methods of Combating drunkenness at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries

Abstract

The articles based on a wide range of written and visual sources, and investigate the struggle for sobriety on the examples of the most famous organizations - the «Anti-Saloon League» (ASL) in the United States, XIX -XX centuries. In the United States of America in the XIX century, problem of alcoholism among the male population was relevant. Drunkenness has led to increase social problems. In the XIX century, there were public organizations that advocate for the restriction of consumption or the complete rejection of alcohol. The most influential of them was the «Anti-Saloon League», which aimed to ban the consumption and production of alcohol in the United States. The article considers the activities of the League from the creation in 1893, to the adoption of the «prohibition law» in the United States in 1919-1920. The authors pay special attention to the League’s relations with the church and politicians, showing the role of the ASL in the adoption of prohibition. The article contains information about the leaders and activists of the organization (such as Wayne Wheeler, William Anderson, William Johnson, Ernest Cherrington), and the methods they used in the fight for sobriety. The «Anti-Saloon League» promoted intolerance towards alcohol, alcoholics and alcohol manufacturer. For that purpose, ASL held rallies, published newspapers and magazines, where printed cartoons, songs, tragic stories, and articles about the harmful effects of alcohol. The League actively worked with young people and insisted for the introduction lessons of alcohol temperance in schools and universities. One of ways to fight for sobriety was discredit alcohol manufacturer through insults, provocations, nationalist attacks, etc. Some members of the League organized pogroms of drinking establishments. For acceptance the law on the prohibition of alcohol ASL practiced bribery and pressure to politicians, achieving the adoption of prohibition laws at the state level, and then at the national level. They tried to establish international relations with sobriety fighters from European countries. The result of many years of struggle was the adoption so-called «prohibition» in the United States. The leaders of the «Anti-Saloon League» made a significant contribution to the development of this law.