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National binges have alternated with enforced absiences for 200 years, but there may be hope for moderation.
Alcohol in American History; April 1996; Scientific American Magazine; by Musto; 6 Page(s)
The young American ship of state floated on a sea of distilled spirits. In the period immediately after the American Revolution, a generally favorable view of alcoholic beverages coincided with rising levels of consumption that far exceeded any in modern times. By the early decades of the 19th century, Americans drank roughly three times as much alcohol as they do in the 1990s.
The country also had its abstemious side. Even as consumption of alcohol was reaching unprecedented levels, an awareness of the dangers of drink began to emerge, and the first American temperance movement took hold. At its peak in 1855, 13 of 40 states and territories had adopted legal prohibition. By the 1870s, public opinion had turned back, and liquor was flowing freely again; then, around the turn of the century, a movement for abstinence gained steam, culminating in the 13-year experiment of Prohibition that began in 1920.
Full text at Scientific American Digital (subscription required)