Modern studies suggest that pure liquor consumption yearly during the 1800s, for the average adult, was a staggering seven7 gallons (seventy-five 75 cans of soda). Compare this to the alcohol consumption in 2005 of only two point three2.3 gallons per adult (twenty-five25 soda cans worth). Alcohol was the most consumed drink in America, with all ages and classes indulging in the beverage. This was one of many problems Americans faced during this time. America was changing rapidly as the country expanded westward and an influx of immigrants reached the shores. This brought about an increase in crime and poverty. As a result, there were many movements devoted to solving …show more content…
Christians pushed for the widespread expansion of their beliefs and used the Temperance Movement as a platform to advance their cause. The Temperance Movement “had a strong moral and Christian outlook” and Christians believed that there was a connection “between excessive alcohol consumption and sin.” Using the Movement, they pushed their religion on unsuspecting individuals, who were easily convinced that their actions were sinful. The movement was a way to promote the Christian religion, which was used to convert people of other religions/beliefs. One of the main organizations that fought for the Movement was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, or the WCTU for short, originally “convened in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874”. They were “[d]etermined to counter male drunkenness” and “fight government policies favorable to the liquor industry.” They combated liquor, as they believed it was contrary to the teachings of the Bible. In addition, the WCTU was another way to access the homes of the non-Christians, targeting the women to support the movement through the means of religion in hopes of converting them. Christians at the time believed in temperance and used the Movement to promote and force their religion upon the population by actively campaigning for the elimination of alcohol from society. They pushed for immigrants of other beliefs, such as Catholics, to abstain from extensive liquor consumption and they targeted the immigrants in pursuit of continuing the domination of Protestantism in