Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 (American Ways Series) [Paperback]

Thomas R. Pegram (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566632099 | ISBN-13: 978-1566632096 | Publication Date: August 17, 1999

From roughly 1800 to the repeal of national prohibition in 1933, temperance reform was a powerful and revealing American social movement. Alcoholic drink had been a fixture of daily life from colonial times, and to many Americans the saloon became a symbol of freedom and egalitarianism—a fitting emblem for American democracy. But many men and women believed that alcohol had a destructive impact on American society and fostered personal and political deviancy. Thomas Pegram’s narrative account of their fight to regulate alcohol traces the moral and political campaigns of the temperance advocates, and shows how their tactics and organization reflected changes in the nation’s politics and social structure. Because political parties and government have historically resisted divisive moral reforms such as prohibition, Mr. Pegram notes the success of such initiatives indicates key moments of change—as with the adoption of national prohibition in 1919. But in this instance the failures of prohibition enforcement shaped the attitudes of politics and ever since, offering an example of the limits of government-enforced morals. Battling Demon Rum is an intriguing tale of social reform, expertly told. New in the American Ways Series.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his extensively researched study of the temperance movement, Pegram (Partisans and Progressives) examines "the relationship between American political institutions and temperance reform." Although the early colonialists drank copiously, he notes, by the early 1800s many reformers related heavy drinking, which was engaged in by men chiefly in saloons, to an increase in crime and poverty. The author shows how a concern for their families' welfare led women like Frances Willard, who founded the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), to first become involved in temperance and later in prison reform and women's rights. According to Pegram, prohibitionists were most successful in getting laws passed banning alcohol during periods of political unrest. His informed account also points out how certain immigrant groups, such as Germans who visited beer gardens on Sundays, came to regard antiliquor legislation as an infringement of their liberty. In the 1932 presidential election, the majority of voters supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had promised, among other things, repeal of the 18th Amendment, and in 1933 Prohibition ended. Like others in Ivan R. Dee's American Ways series (e.g., last year's My Mind Set on Freedom: A History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by John Salmond), this is a concise, thorough and thoughtful look at a peculiarly American experience.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Pegram (history, Loyola Coll., Baltimore) has written the best short history available of the politics and practices of American temperance reform. With sensitivity to the changing social, cultural, and economic contexts of drink and drinking, and with special attention to the role political parties played in using, or avoiding, the temperance issue, Pegram shows how reformers moved from moral suasion and local regulation to state-mandated and, finally, national prohibition. Women reformers and the Anti-Saloon League figure prominently among the reform lobbyists, pressure groups (the brewing industry), and progressives. In the end, argues Pegram, Prohibition failed because of the reformers' very success in going outside political parties and, thus, failing to invest them in its enforcement. An excellent introduction to a controversial subject whose implications echo today in moral reformers' efforts to co-opt parties and make public policy. Highly recommended for most libraries.?Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (August 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566632099
• ISBN-13: 978-1566632096
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The political history of the prohibition movement, February 27, 2004

By 

Mark Klobas (Tempe, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 (American Ways Series) (Paperback)

In this book, Thomas Pegram offers a good introduction to the political history of America's struggles with alcohol, from the temperance movement of the early 19th century to the repeal of Prohibition. More than just an account of the various reform movements addressing the issue, Pegram also discusses the social role of drinking during the era as a way of explaining both what motivated the reformers and why reform was so difficult. The result is a concise account that packs a considerable amount of interesting information into a short, accessible book that is an excellent starting point for anybody interested in learning more about the prohibition movement or the role that alcohol has played in American history.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reforming America with a Shotgun, March 12, 2003

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

This book examines the American history of politics and temperance during the 19th and early 20th century. In the late 18th century the local tavern was a meeting place for resistance and revolution, and became a symbol of freedom and egalitarianism. Whiskey and brandy were considered healthful or medicinal from Puritan times (p.7). In the early 19th century treating voters to drinks suggested sociability, equality, and the principle that the purpose of government was to help citizens. Others would say it was an attempt to corrupt or manipulate voters. Increased alcohol consumption was often followed by family violence and public disorder. Consumption between 1800 and 1830 was more than double from today. This led to treating alcohol as a social problem to be solved by temperance: drinking beer, cider, or wine, not distilled liquors. Men drank at work or in taverns, women and children at home. The spirit of progress and improvement, along with temperance, began in the 1830s. The religious revival emphasized the perfectibility of mankind, and the need to abolish wickedness. Temperance became the standard for middle class behavior (p.31). Alcohol consumption dropped to its lowest in the century in 1845. Efforts began to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages (Maine 1851), but these were repealed or ignored by 1860.

The factory system resulted in a permanent class of wage laborers who could never own their own shop, and this frustration was followed by more drinking (p.10). Increased alcohol use was followed by tavern and street riots (p.12). Science found that alcohol was not good, whether in whiskey or beer. This refuted the long-held beliefs from olden times, and was used to support attempts to restrict or ban alcohol.

The economic problems of the 1870s and later marked the formation of the WCTU and the Prohibition Party. But some believed that poverty and hopelessness bred alcohol dependency, not the reverse (p.71). (Could this explain obesity today?) Most saloons were tied to breweries to provide outlets for what was now a big business (p.94). (Like gasoline stations today?) Many offered a free lunch with a nickel beer, often better or cheaper than in restaurants (p.104).

Prohibition in America came about from the Anti-Saloon League founded in 1895. It was the first modern professional lobby composed of salaried employees supported by donations from the public, and millionaires (pp.113-4). Chapter 6 explains how this was done. Chapter 7 describes the background lobbying used to bring about prohibition as needed for the war effort. Prohibition would result in order, efficiency, and alertness (p.149); it would win the war and create prosperity too. Here's how the trick was done: the 18th Amendment banned the sale and manufacture of "intoxicating beverages"; many thought this only applied to whiskey and brandy. Afterwards the Volstead Act was passed to set the standard at 0.5% alcohol, which now applied to beer and wine as well! Instead of peace and prosperity, the 1920s had crime, violence, and then the Depression. Chapter 8 tells of the problems of prohibition, and how it was repealed almost as quickly as it was enacted. Some say it was a "noble experiment", as if ordinary Americans were laboratory rats to be tested by social engineers. This book is important as a short history. Are the same lobbying tricks being repeated today?

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Battling Demon Rum, March 11, 2009

By 

John Madfis "Freedom Lover" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 (American Ways Series) (Paperback)

"Battling Demon Run" gives the reader great insight into Prohibition, its history, its failures and its repeal. It is a good comparison to the insane, un-winnable War on Drugs that has also had similar results. One would think that history would teach us something. Alcohol prohibition led to fortunes being made by criminals,
corruption of law enforcement personnel and judges, rampant killings and violence, the rise of organized crime syndicates, harsher and harsher sentences for violators, more and more prisons built, and tremendous damage to many communities across the country.

The difference at that time was that the Congress of the United States adhered to the Constitution. In order to outlaw alcohol, a Constitutional Amendment was needed since the act of prohibiting alcohol was beyond the purview of the Federal Government under the Constitution. When Congress passed drug laws the legislators saw no need to bother any more with such trivialities and passed laws that are clearly unconstitutional. The result has been a disaster for our country, Mexico, Colombia and many other countries across the world.

Battling Demon Rum is very instructive to those interested in seeing how ineffective law enforcement is in going after victimless crimes and personal behavior.
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