How can the efforts of temperance movement in response to alcohol be Essay

How can the efforts of temperance movement in response to alcohol be explained - Essay Example During the Victorian era this movement became more drastic, campaigning for legal prohibition of alcohol rather than promoting moral suasion or calling for moderation. All in all, its efforts were perceived in both progressive politics especially female suffrage and religious renewal. Band of Hope, a temperance movement, was founded in Leeds with the working class being their centre of attention. They strived to keep away children of the working class from the dangers of alcoholism. In 1851 there was a success in banning or restricting the selling of alcohol in various parts of the U.S (Nugent, 2011). The prohibitionists formed different organizations inside the movement to address the problem of alcoholism from all perspectives. The anti-saloon league concentrated on creating dry counties and dry states away from alcohol. Moreover, the movement began to look for alternative places to hold their meetings thereby replacing the roles of public bars. Therefore, they introduced coffee pa laces, temperance halls, temperance theatre and temperance fountains where individuals could reliably get drinking water instead of having to get into the saloons. The movement began to nominate candidates for government offices and forming political parties thus producing leaders who supported the ban of alcohol. All in all they believed that taking alcohol was a deviant, moral and offset to Christianity (Nugent, 2011). The temperance movement advocated for its views with mounting stridency with which could not be of comparison to the use of mass media at the moment in terms of response, commitment and scope. The government of United States has identified alcoholism to be its leading drug problem. Consequently, it initiated some tools to promote more self control. The major tool is higher excise tax which inflates the prices on alcoholic beverages (Sartor, 2013). This helps promote standards of living and public health. Other successful control measures are heavy penalties for driv ing under influence of alcohol, minimum purchasing age to deter underage citizens from abuse, privatization in retail alcohol sales dram-shop liability and limitations on alcohol advertising. Privatization has proved to be effective in controlling sales of alcoholic beverages hence commercial retailing of these beverages is made possible. Never the less, the government also amended the constitution in1919 to prohibit the transportation, sale or manufacture intoxicating liquors. Efforts of temperance movement and the U.S response to alcohol explained in terms of racial prejudice Temperance movement gained more recognition in women suffrage after the seventeenth Amendment. This amendment created a new reliable workforce with prejudice to German-Americans together with their breweries which made ban of alcohol a patriotic cause. Moreover, prohibitionists clamored to make alcohol abuse directed to common racial prejudices thereby convincing others to ban alcohol (Nugent, 2011). The anti -saloon league in the temperance movement portrayed Catholics as morally depraved and intellectually inferior as they feared authoritarian orders from Rome would replace their capitalist and democratic principles. Pro-prohibition groups using rhetorical strategies claimed that alcohol influenced African- Americans to commit serious crimes. The