19th Century Temperance Movement

[Johnny Lloyd]

All:

I'm excited to be a part of the "Temperance Men" of the 24th Iowa for this latest adventure at Into the Piney Woods next month.

Not finding any organized thread on here under the term "Temperance Movement", I propose to gather research here for the upcoming event.

In order to start discussion on the topic of the Temperance movement in 19th century America, I offer the below citation:

An organized temperance movement began in Georgia in the late 1820s and, after early difficulties, flourished through the 1930s.
As in other parts of the United States, Georgia's temperance reformers typically were evangelical Protestants who regarded alcoholic beverages as harmful (even sinful) for the individual drinker and for society at large. Supposedly, drink destroyed families and reputations and brought about poverty, disorder, and crime. As elsewhere, Georgia's temperance reformers started by urging individuals to decide voluntarily not to drink and later campaigned to change the laws to restrict and abolish the sale of alcoholic beverages. Georgia had statewide prohibition from 1908 until 1935, a period that began before and extended beyond national prohibition (1920-1933).

The Georgia State Temperance Society, organized in 1828, at first met concurrently with the Baptist state convention. The state society sent delegates to the American Temperance Society but was never formally affiliated with it. Originally this first statewide society committed its members to moderation in the consumption of distilled liquors. When it attempted in 1836 to shift to a teetotal pledge, the society broke up and disappeared. One of the few affiliated local societies to survive was in Augusta, for many years a temperance stronghold.

In the 1840s and 1850s the Georgia temperance movement shared in national enthusiasms: Washingtonianism, which employed the testimonials of reformed drunkards to encourage men to pledge themselves to give up drink; and fraternal societies, such as the Sons of Temperance, which combined quasi-Masonic ritual and mutual insurance with teetotalism.

Prewar temperance reformers explored the political road to temperance. In the late 1830s a petition movement called for an end to retail liquor licenses. In 1855, influenced by the example of statutory prohibition in the state of Maine, a temperance convention meeting in Atlanta nominated a Methodist minister, B. H. Overby, as a candidate for governor on a platform of statewide prohibition.

Before the Civil War, some white Georgians may have associated temperance with northern abolitionists and consequently rejected it. Lagging economic development also handicapped the temperance cause, given that this modernizing ideology had little appeal in predominantly rural Georgia. Finally, Georgians disliked laws that restricted their personal liberty.

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-828

I find it fascinating that Southerners would associate such a movement with being Yankee in nature. Being Southern in heritage, I can see how the above citation could be very true- since many Southerners (really more than any part of the country that 've been to) to this day find laws against personal freedom quite uncomfortably restrictive. (No modern political commentaries on this note please.:rolleyes:)

I also have seen from my own research that the Temperance Movement in the 19th Century was divided into certain ideas of thought. Some people advocated for moderation in drinking alcohol, and some advocated for no drinking outright. Some also threw-in abstinence from smoking, pornographic images, etc and some did not.

What would the "Temperance Men" of the 24th Iowa been more of the persuasion of? Does anyone have any research they can share? I did a scan of Google Books and it has some great (but huge .pdf format) files of Temperance books and other literature.

I'll post information here as I find it.

Temperance songs: http://books.google.com/books?id=g-pi7mAnNL8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Temperance+Movement&lr=&vq=%22The+Well-tempered+Lyre%22&source=gbs_book_citations_r&cad=1_1#PPA50,M1

All the best- Johnny Lloyd:wink_smil

PS- Shall we make some of our fellow soldiers and Confederate captives "Take the Pledge"?:D

[Hairy Nation Boys]

I took the following from:

William T. Rigby and the Red Oak Boys in Louisiana

TERRENCE J. WINSCHEL

From Books at Iowa 63 (November 1995)
Copyright: The University of Iowa

http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/bai/winschel.htm





"To a man, the unit pledged to abstain from drinking liquor during their term of service and became known as the Iowa Temperance Regiment."


"On September 8,1863, two gunboats were lost in action against the fort at Sabine Pass and the operation was abandoned. Returning to New Orleans, Franklin next attempted to reach the Texas stronghold by an overland route. Reinforced by elements of the XIII Corps, including the 24th Iowa recently arrived from Vicksburg, Franklin's command took up the line of march. Lieutenant Colonel Wilds and the men of the former Iowa Temperance Regiment (a month in New Orleans will corrupt anyone) crossed the Mississippi River on Sunday, September 13, to Algiers. There the regiment boarded cars of the Opelousas & Great Western Railroad for the journey to Brashear City which was reached the following day. Rigby recorded in his diary that "It is the most forsaken looking place I ever saw," and added, "I hope our stay in it will be brief. " [13]


"The boys had managed to get some liquor during the evening & quite a number of them got onto a regular spree. It was Christmas night & I let the Boys have their own way & they made a good deal of music. One of them John Pitman [of Tipton] talked very abusively about me at any other time I would not have stood it a moment but considering that it was Christmas night & a good many of the Boys were on a spree I thought I would let him have his say if it gave him any satisfaction. I am more than ever disgusted with drunkenness & there is no denying that there is too much of it in the army & that it is on the increase. When we are on a campaign the men can not get it, but when we are near the city a great many of them will have it & some will get drunk, My Boys have spent a big pile of money since we were paid off. It is an unfortunate thing for our pockets that we came to the city & got our pay just at the beginning of Holiday week & a fortunate thing for the tradesmen of the city quite a number of them will have the whole of their two months pay behind them & if it were twice as much they would do the same. They have all been over to New Orleans once or twice & of all the places in the world to spend money in, it is the best. [33]"



And to answer your question about which vice. I would say Alcohol. Being that Company B was raised in Quaker country. I don't suppose they would not smoke or chew.
As you can see the pledges died throughout their military service. With an average age of 24 in Company B. You can guess that these men would be tempted to drink. Plus, I can see these men signing the oath to impress some young lady and to make mother and father proud. So, we should not portray Puritans! I am NOT suggesting that we drink alcohol and have a big party. But part of our first person could be that a large number of the boys did not honor their pledge.

[Gallo de Cielo]

As a civilian guide, employed by General Banks to guide you boys through the area, I am under no such pledges, nor am I a man of temperance.

[Hank Trent]

I find it fascinating that Southerners would associate such a movement with being Yankee in nature. Being Southern in heritage, I can see how the above citation could be very true- since many Southerners (really more than any part of the country that 've been to) to this day find laws against personal freedom quite uncomfortably restrictive.

Yep, the puritan north had a reputation for being first to legislate morality and/or social reforms. Consider women's rights as well, not to mention the obvious example of abolitionism.

You might want to look into the "Maine Laws" of the 1850s, as they were called, which became a template for temperance laws in other states.

I think it's difficult for modern people to really grasp what the temperance movement meant to people in the 19th century, because drinking today is seen as something relatively harmless compared to other addictions (whether that's true or not). But in the 19th century, with really only opium for competition, it was the most visible and widespread addiction to cause problems in society. Drunken husbands beat their wives and wasted their money on liquor, young adults learned to brawl and gamble in bar-rooms, and so forth.

I think a parallel to help in understanding an abstinence or strong temperance mindset of the period, would be not wanting your kids or your friends to use cocaine today. Yes, of course, there are people for the use of cocaine today, but there's more widespread agreement in society that it's not a good thing, that it leads inevitably to loss of money, health and reputation, and there's a wider societal gap between those against it and those for it. While one doesn't see much in the way of temperance campaigns today, there are plenty of attempts to fight drug use, which parallel the anti-alcohol attempts in the 19th century.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Johnny Lloyd]

While one doesn't see much in the way of temperance campaigns today, there are plenty of attempts to fight drug use, which parallel the anti-alcohol attempts in the 19th century.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net


Curiously, the WCTU (yes, a postwar organization -founded 1873-but part of this movement nonetheless) is still active today. http://www.wctu.org/

I was suprised to find this after doing some net-digging.

Yes, Hank. I think we have a hard time seeing how harmful drink was seen to those of the mid-19th century. From what I've read, I think the movement really took off as a political one here in America (culminating with Prohibition in the 20th century) because of our puritanical roots. Europe had Temperance movements, but they really never gained the political (as opposed to just social) momentum in the 19th Century like the one in America eventually did toward the latter half of that century.

Harrison- thanks for the insight as how this pertains to the unit we are portraying. Based-upon your research, I'd surmise after being seasoned veterans, the boys of this regiment would need a drink. Slips in those pledges might need some refreshing, no?

All the best- Johnny Lloyd:wink_smil

[Hairy Nation Boys]

I would never sign the tobacco part of the pledge!

[Silas]

The drinking then was more of the hard liquor variety than from beer and wine. Today we drink less than then, but not by much :


Apparent per capita ethanol consumption for the United States, 1850–2006. (Gallons of ethanol, based on population age 15 and older prior to 1970 and on population age 14 and other thereafter) as reported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism :

Year / Beer / Wine / Spirits / Total

2006 / 1.19 / 0.37 / 0.71 / 2.27

2005 / 1.18 / 0.36 / 0.70 / 2.23

2000 / 1.22 / 0.31 / 0.65 / 2.18

1870 / 0.44 / 0.10 / 1.53 / 2.07

1860 / 0.27 / 0.10 / 2.16 / 2.53

1850 / 0.14 / 0.08 / 1.88 / 2.10

Here's the source link : http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/DatabaseResources/QuickFacts/AlcoholSales/consum01.htm

People may have thrust their hands into the air and taken the pledge, but folks also promised to love, honor and cherish their spouses 'til death to they part. Didn't always happen that way.

[Old Reb]

Temperance, while not illegal in Louisiana, is frowned upon.

[Horace]

I think it's safe to say that Temperance, along with other reform movements like Abolitionism, were directly linked in people's minds with Republicans. If you were a Democrat, you saw Republicans as power-mad meddlers who were trashing the Constitution, and the temperance thing as just one more way they were trying to run your life.

[Johnny Lloyd]

I would never sign the tobacco part of the pledge!

Big Ditto there Harrison. I need something to do while on-guard and a good seegar cupped in the palm of the hand and hot coffee keeps me vigilant/happy while on the look-out for rebels.

-Johnny:D

[Johnny Lloyd]

Not just a good thing to get the parents of your fiancee in-line with your intentions as a potential suitor-

But...

In the 19th century, water supplies in Europe as well as America were generally bad (quite so in larger cities) or at least suspect, so that alcohol was the preferred drink due to it's safety-factor.

Out of this, don't you think Temperencemen would be looked upon as being a bit crazy and risky too, no?

Perhaps they had better stomachs back then as to resist things like giardia, chronic diahrea, dysentery, etc. then again... perhaps not. :eek:

What do ya'll think? -Johnny

[PogueMahone]

Big Ditto there Harrison. I need something to do while on-guard and a good seegar cupped in the palm of the hand and hot coffee keeps me vigilant/happy while on the look-out for rebels.

-Johnny:D

Johnny,

If you have a cigar in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, where is your musket?

Are you on guard or a coffee break?

your Orderly Sergeant at ITPW,

[J. Donaldson]

I think it's safe to say that Temperance, along with other reform movements like Abolitionism, were directly linked in people's minds with Republicans. If you were a Democrat, you saw Republicans as power-mad meddlers who were trashing the Constitution, and the temperance thing as just one more way they were trying to run your life.

Temperance, abolition, and the other reform movements of the mid-nineteenth century are more closely tied to religion than they are to politics. In the wake of the Second Great Awakening and the new surge of evangelical religion in the United States, these reforms sprang up as means to bring about the purification of society. Abolition simply made the jump to politics much earlier than other religion-based initiatives. Abolition became political in the 1830s with the Mailing Campaign by Northern-based religious antislavery societies and the Southern reaction to said incident. So the model for who should dominate the mind is the middle-class woman and her husband as members of an antislavery society based in religion but moving in to the political realm. That's the membership model for these social reform movements.

With the collapse of the Whig party in the 1850s, the Republican Party stepped into the power void, and while concentrating mostly on issues of free land and free labor, were not going to turn away anyone who might vote for them. Eric Foner's Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War would be a good read to square that away.

[LibertyHallVols]

Great thread! :beer_yum:


I would never sign the tobacco part of the pledge!

I'm right there with you!!!! Get between me and my pipe and you'll have one grouchy SOB on your hands!


If you have a cigar in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, where is your musket?

Are you on guard or a coffee break?

your Orderly Sergeant at ITPW,

Looks like we have the right man on the job! :wink_smil

I'm counting down the days!!!!

[Johnny Lloyd]

Johnny,

If you have a cigar in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, where is your musket?

Are you on guard or a coffee break?

your Orderly Sergeant at ITPW,

I meant to add:

Yelling:

"Sergeant, my rifle is already on-line in the rifle pit/hasty fighting position that is disguised to better scan my sector of fire with my head low and my eyes sighting-down the barrel. There are NO breaks in a war zone, Ser-geant!"

;)

Nicotine and caffeine keep me better alert and warm on a cold night at guard.

All the best- Johnny Lloyd :wink_smil

[PogueMahone]

I meant to add:

Yelling:

"Sergeant, my rifle is already on-line in the rifle pit/hasty fighting position that is disguised to better scan my sector of fire with my head low and my eyes sighting-down the barrel. There are NO breaks in a war zone, Ser-geant!"

;)

Nicotine and caffeine keep me better alert and warm on a cold night at guard.

All the best- Johnny Lloyd :wink_smil

Yes, well, just remember that some of your officers enjoy walking up to a picket post and asking to inspect a musket just to see if you will hand it over. Regulations say you will not place your musket on the ground or hand it over to anyone while on guard, not even to the NCO or Officer of the Guard.

Actually, I have no objection to anyone sitting on picket or setting the butt of the musket on the ground, as long as they don't get caught by the Grand Rounds, the enemy or the Officer of the Day. At Outpost 2K, I literally spanked a picket who was caught napping on the job. John Pillers has the photos to prove it.

[Johnny Lloyd]

Yes, well, just remember that some of your officers enjoy walking up to a picket post and asking to inspect a musket just to see if you will hand it over. Regulations say you will not place your musket on the ground or hand it over to anyone while on guard, not even to the NCO or Officer of the Guard.

... At Outpost 2K, I literally spanked a picket who was caught napping on the job. John Pillers has the photos to prove it.

The caffeine will keep me vigilant against said officers' efforts. LOL ;)

Good is the NCO that brings a hot kettle of coffee/tobacco to his soldiers out at the forwardmost line to make sure they are fully fortified, awake, warm and doing very well... ;)

Now back to the Temperance conversation... :D

All the best- Johnny Lloyd:wink_smil