“Opposition to the manufacture and sale of intoxicating
liquors rests upon the proposition that alcohol is a poison which, taken into
the system, weakens the body, impairs the strength of the mind, and menaces the
morals….We challenge the opponents of prohibition to meet us on this fundamental
proposition. Will they accept the
challenge? No! Because all history supports the
doctrine that alcoholic drinks are injurious.”
--William Jennings Bryan, 1916
--William Jennings Bryan, 1916
The Drys
The temperance movement began in the 1820s with the Washington Societies, which hoped to convince others to voluntarily abstain from drinking alcohol. Women, concerned about the link between alcoholism and domestic abuse, joined the debate in 1874 by forming the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which also worked for women’s suffrage so that women could vote for Prohibition. The most significant group to enter the debate on the side of the “Drys” was the Anti-Saloon League, organized in 1895. Led by Wayne Wheeler, the ASL gained support from church congregations, wealthy industrialists and small-town Americans. The group worked on both the local and state level to support dry political candidates. By 1919, 30 states had passed laws that limited alcohol in some way.