“ The
friends of Temperance in this State have for years been striving to drive the
evil effects of intoxicating drinks from our Commonwealth. They saw that this
was by far the most appalling evil in our land, more than three-fourths of the
crime and vagrancy, and more than seven-eighths of the cases of bloodshed and
murder in our State and country being traceable directly to this source.”
Alcohol is a serious problem today. Nearly 88,000
people die each year due to alcohol related deaths. Many people drink a lot
nowadays, but back in the 19th century even more people indulged in
alcohol. People would start there day with alcohol and end it with alcohol when
they passed out. People were being beaten to death, families were abandoned,
and relationships were tarnished. Alcohol was available almost anywhere and
anyone could get it. Many people began to realize that alcohol was
ruining their society, and if nothing drastic happened no one would want to
live in the United States anymore. This is when people like Neil Dowe, Amelia
Bloomer and P.T Barnum come in. Neil Dowe had a military background and he used
that training to enforce the idea that alcohol consumption led to bed things.
He proved his points by being physical and getting laws changed. He helped make
alcohol illegal in the state of Maine. Amelia Bloomer wrote in her newspaper The Lily to try and show the negative
effects of over consumption of alcohol. Finally, P.T Barnum who wrote the primary source I have selected for this final part of my blog. Barnum was born
in Bethel, Connecticut in 1810. Barnum was involved in politics. The primary
source I have selected just so happens to be an appeal to the democratic voters of Connecticut. In
this paragraph from the appeal Barnum shows that he feels that alcohol is a
very harmful substance and that it ruins a large quantity of lives. This source
has some bias because it is obviously from the point of view of someone who was
against alcohol. This document shows that alcohol must of caused some serious
problems in this world because not very often were topics deemed “evil”. Barnum
backs up his claim that alcohol is evil by going on to say that it was the
cause of three fourths of all the crime and vagrancy in Connecticut, and he
says the seven eighths of all blood shed and murder are caused by alcohol.
These facts are vital to support Barnum’s cause. What it comes down too is
this; with less or no alcohol less people are being harmed or thrown in jail.
 |
| P.T Barnum |
Source: P.T Barnum, “THE MAINE LAW
ADVOCATE----EXTRA, NEW HAVEN, CONN” (Appeal to democratic voters of
Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, March 26, 1852)
