Women
Many women supported prohibition quietly and as such did not influence it much; however, a few women who supported prohibition greatly contributed to the anti-alcohol sentiment in both violent and more subtle ways, thus causing both adults and children to see the benefits of abstaining from drinking.
Alcohol was believed to be at the root of many social problems. Among these problems was violence, especially against women. Prior to prohibition, men would come home in a state of drunkenness and abuse their wife or children. In the words of Mary Hunt in her book Health for Little Folks, "Alcohol may make a father cruel to his children and to his wife." As such, many women supported prohibition initially in the hopes that their husbands, no longer under the influence of alcohol, would begin to them better. Most of their support, however, only influenced prohibition marginally. Despite being against the consumption of alcohol, not many women were extremely vocal about it. On the other hand, because the abuse of wife and children was not uncommon, women formed a solid demographic group almost completely against alcohol. Their support at the beginning of National Prohibition may have swayed the motion into passing, simply because there are so many of them. "Men are nicotine-soaked, beer-besmirched, whiskey-greased, red-eyed devils." spacespacespacespacespace -- Carry A. Nation |
Carry Amelia Nation
Watch Women of PROHIBITION Carry Nation on PBS. See more from Ken Burns. |
Particularly influential to the beginning of prohibition was Carry A. Nation, who in the 19th century established and headed a chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Despite a Kansas law prohibiting alcohol, Nation witnessed a large number of men who drank and sold liquor illegally. Praying that she might be shown another way to stop them and save Kansas, she received an answer in the form of a voice she heard. The voice told her to go to Kiowa, and that He would stand by her. Nation collected brick bats and rocks, accumulating quite the pile of weapons. In Kiowa she and her followers attacked their first saloon on June 1st, 1900 with these weapons. A few destroyed saloons later, Nation began to use a hatchet instead. Between the years of 1900 and 1910, Nation was arrested about 30 times for her continual destructive actions . Many saloons, however, were closed due to her actions even before prohibition was nationally implemented. In addition to destroying saloons, Nation was also able to deliver speeches about prohibition in states where liquor was legal. These speeches spread her message and were compelling to even the staunchest of alcohol supporters.
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She also wrote publications, which throughout her life continued to supply her with income. Because they continued to sell, it can be very quickly inferred that these books that preached prohibition appealed to many others. Those who may not have initially been prohibitionist could have read her books, or listened to her speeches, and began to agree with her words, thereby leading to a larger base of support for prohibition. Also, her earlier violent actions against the saloons sent a very clear message about alcohol and its potential danger. Even some people who did not necessarily agree with her ideals may have stopped visiting the bars for fear of Nation's destructive habits. However, as she had many followers, others may have been swayed further to her cause because of her religious motivation and God's seeming encouragement of her actions. To many, Nation was an inspiring figure who returned time and time again to fight for prohibition despite numerous arrests, which led to a strengthening of spirit within the supporters of National Prohibition.
Mary Hannah Hanchett Hunt
Once a teacher, Mary Hunt appealed to a Massachusetts school board in the 1870s and was able to convince the board in institute temperance instruction in their schools. Hunt continued to other schools within the state and campaigned there to achieve the same goal. Nearing the end of the decade, she was invited by Frances Willard to present at a meeting of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. A year later, Hunt became the National Superintendent of the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction in Schools and Colleges. From there, she asked the members of the WCTU to petition their schools boards to use temperance textbooks in their curriculum, as she had done years earlier. However, Hunt was not satisfied with the outcome and created the Scientific Temperance Instruction Movement, where she would try to ensure the election of pro-temperance candidates. Besides using temperance textbooks -- which Hunt chose carefully in order find books advocating complete abstinence -- the law also included the mandatory teaching of the effects of alcohol and drugs. Her idea was ultimately very successful; by the beginning of the 20th century, nearly every state and territory warned students off of alcohol through their schooling. However, many of her chosen textbooks in fact exaggerated the effects of alcohol, stating that it was poison and the cause of many physical health problems that would cause death. Thus, instead of educating children on alcohol, the books Hunt chose were meant to mislead and scare them away from trying it. This was a very clever maneuver, and definitely caused more people to abstain from alcohol than the textbooks would have if they had only stated the actual dangers of the substance. Though Hunt took a more subtle approach to prohibition than Nation did, Hunt's was likely a lot more influential; her actions affected millions of schoolchildren and warned them away from alcohol. Whether or not the information they received was technically correct or not, the children were sufficiently informed through their schooling about the dangers of drinking. Many would choose to remain abstinent even as adults because of the textbooks that Hunt chose for their education.
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