The American Temperance Society (ATS), also known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was a society established on February 13, 1826, in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. Within five years there were 2,220 local chapters in the U.S. with 170,000 members who had taken a pledge to abstain from drinking
distilled beverage
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard li ...
s, though not including wine and beer; it permitted the medicinal use of alcohol as well. Within ten years, there were over 8,000 local groups and more than 1,250,000 members who had taken the pledge.
The society benefited from, and contributed to, a
reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
sentiment in much of the country promoting the
abolition of slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, expanding
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
,
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
, and the improvement of society. Possibly because of its association with the
abolitionist movement
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, the society was most successful in northern states.
After a while, temperance groups increasingly pressed for the mandatory
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
of alcohol rather than for voluntary
abstinence
Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc.
...
. The American Temperance Society was the first U.S. social movement organization to mobilize massive and national support for a specific reform cause. Their objective was to become the national clearinghouse on the topic of temperance. Within three years of its organization, ATS had spread across the country.
Notable people
* Dr. Justin Edwards, preacher and treasurer of ATS
*
Rev. Joshua Leavitt
Rev. Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794, Heath, Massachusetts – January 16, 1873, Brooklyn, New York) was an American Congregationalist minister and former lawyer who became a prominent writer, editor and publisher of abolitionist literature. ...
, Lawyer, editor, writer, publisher, first secretary of ATS.
*
John Wheeler Leavitt John Wheeler Leavitt (July 3, 1790 – July 17, 1870) was a prominent New York City businessman, founder of J. W. & R. Leavitt Company, eventually declared insolvent, and grandfather of American society portrait painter Cecilia Beaux, who frequentl ...
See also
*
American Temperance Union A national temperance union called the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was formed in Boston in 1826. Shortly thereafter, a second national temperance union was organized called the American Temperance Society, which grew to 2,200 k ...
*
Prohibition in the United States
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...
*
Temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
*
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
*
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
*
Cold Water Army (temperance organization)
Cold Water Army was an American temperance organization for children. It was established in 1839 by Rev. T. P. Hunt, who was affiliated with the American Temperance Society (ATS). In its day, hundreds of thousands of children belonged to the soci ...
References
Further reading
*Young, Michael P. (2007). ''Bearing Witness against Sin: The Evangelical Birth of the American Social Movement''. University of Chicago Press
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Temperance organizations in the United States
1826 establishments in Massachusetts
Organizations established in 1826