In 1492, when Columbus finally set foot on the coastline of the American continent after untold hardships, he was already relieved. mission. At this time, he was standing on this earth, and his heart was full of infinite longing for this beautiful new world, looking forward to what he could get from here, or what he could bring to this place. Although it was later proved that this continent was not the "India" he dreamed of, the era of American voyages opened by him led the trend of European colonists gathering to the American continent. Like Columbus, they followed one after another with a beautiful imagination of the new world And to. In 1620, the "Mayflower" sailed to North America with 102 passengers, about half of them were "Puritans" who fled here due to religious persecution. This group of devout Puritans has the character of "first-generation entrepreneurs". They have a simple style, abide by the rules, and any arrogant and lustful vices will not be tolerated in their view. Their excellent character influenced many who relocated there and successfully shaped the foundations of American "Anglo-Saxon" culture. However, it is estimated that they cannot imagine that many Americans in two hundred years will be deeply entrenched in alcoholism and unable to extricate themselves, and thus trigger a "social experiment" similar to that created by utopian socialists. As early as the end of the Middle Ages in Europe, there was a precedent for religious clergy to sell malt liquor to citizens in the form of "church drinking parties", so as to maintain the church's relief for the poor and daily operating expenses. In Britain, which is in the early stage of industrialization, drinking has gradually become an important part of people's daily activities, appearing in daily diet, disease treatment, religious celebrations and other life scenes. With the advancement of urbanization and industrialization, the scattered rural population has gradually gathered in the urban center, and the heavy labor and crowded living environment have squeezed the time and space for people to conduct public communication activities. As a result, the tavern has become one of the few places where the urban population can go to relax and unwind except for the church. In England at that time, every parish would have a pub, and drinking gradually became a habit. In addition to the United Kingdom, other European countries are not far behind, especially northern and southeastern Europe, where alcoholism has always been prevalent. The history of the United States also belongs to the history of immigration from a sociological point of view. Unlike the early Puritans who immigrated to North America, as more and more colonists from various countries entered the American continent, the habit of European alcoholism was also brought over. . The drinking habits that continued in the colonial period made Americans in that era, regardless of class, have the habit of drinking heavily. For example, during the Revolutionary War, Washington, the founding father of the United States, would try to ensure that every soldier could drink half a glass of rum or whiskey every day in order to keep the army in a high and furious fighting state. Young Abraham. Lincoln also worked as a salesperson in stores and sold whiskey before he became president. At the end of the 18th century, Americans mainly used low-alcohol alcohol such as beer and cider. However, with the rise of the "Westward Movement" in the United States, a large number of eastern populations migrated westward, and the increase in inflows allowed a large amount of fertile land to be reclaimed and food production increased rapidly. The increase in grain production allows farmers to put more surplus agricultural products into the winemaking industry, producing more high-quality and inexpensive distilled wines. By the 1830s, Americans drank 27 liters of spirits. Considering that women and black slaves were basically non-drinkers at the time, the amount of spirits men drank had reached an eye-popping level. The various taverns scattered throughout the town have become clubs and social centers for upper-class whites. The tavern has become a melting pot, whether prostitutes, kidnappers, gold prospectors or government officials, all hang out in it and enjoy it. Even though drinking itself is a personal habit, the extension of its influence in public places can bring a lot of trouble to the normal operation of social order. The social problems caused by alcoholism have aroused widespread concern in society. According to the research process, in 1833, in a survey of 600 criminals held in New York prisons, it was found that most of the criminals were alcoholics, and heavy drinkers accounted for one-third of them. Corresponding to the acute social problems caused by drinking alcohol, the ideological trend of prohibition is also slowly forming and growing. 2. Just as the growth of all things must conform to the laws of nature, a social movement's ideological trend needs to go through the following stages in order to influence or even rise to the reform of the superstructure. First, this trend of thought must be just, and this justice can come from morality, law or even religion. Second, with the blessing of justice, the next goal is to attract or mobilize more people to join this trend and form a group that represents this concept. The larger the group, the greater the social influence. Finally, turn the slogan into a political appeal, and promote social change from the political level. Beginning in the early 19th century, the wave of prohibition that lasted for nearly a hundred years followed this path. At the beginning of the 19th century, the social evangelical movement broke out in the United States, and evangelical Christianity was the advocate of this movement. The biggest feature of evangelical Christianity and other Christian denominations is that they take the Bible as their sole basis of belief, do not focus on fundamentalism, and expect universalism. The purpose of this religious reform movement, which responded to the impact of urban industrial civilization, was to advocate the improvement of the capitalist democratic social system through preaching and social reform. As one of the main social problems at that time, alcoholism was also their concern. They believed that alcoholism breeds sin and reduces the morality of Americans, so they actively oppose drinking. In addition, shaping the "Anglo. Since the colonial period, pubs have always played an important role in American social life, and the drinking problem of Americans has always revolved around pubs. In 1880, there were about 150,000 pubs in the United States, which doubled by 1900. Most of the pubs were concentrated in cities in the more urbanized and industrialized Northeast and Midwest regions. The booming of the alcohol industry has brought a lot of tax revenue to the government, but also caused great harm to the society. The emergence of a large number of pubs has led to fierce competition among each other. Some of them are in order to attract and retain customers and increase business income. They do everything they can, such as selling alcohol to minors, selling low-quality alcohol, luring customers to drink, allowing customers to public Gambling, allowing prostitutes to enter pubs, etc. The evil deeds of taverns make society have a worse social perception of the tavern industry as a whole. The endless problems brought by pubs make Americans feel that pubs have lost their bottom line, causing social dissatisfaction and accusations. In 1895, the "Against the Tavern League" ("ASL" for short) was formed. ASL's goal is clear, advocating the use of political means to solve the problem of prohibition within the framework of the law. In action, they constructed an information exchange channel mainly opposed to alcohol trading, with the aim of guiding the public to support prohibition legislation. At the same time, ASL's political appeal transcends the differences between parties, unites all organizations and people who support prohibition, and supports any party candidate for prohibition. At the beginning of the 20th century, the League Against Taverns became the national representative of prohibition. With the efforts of ASL and WCTU, the federal government has begun to take measures to impose heavy taxes on alcohol producers and sellers. In February 1913, the House and Senate passed the Weber-Kenyon Act. According to the Act, liquor imported from other states must not conflict with the laws of other states in any way, otherwise the transportation will be prohibited. Although the bill was vetoed by the president, the Senate overturned the veto and passed the bill again. Subsequently, changes in the international situation brought new opportunities to ASL. The United States joined the alliance of Britain and France as the main Allied powers to fight against Russia, Germany and Austria as the main allies, which accelerated the passage of the Prohibition Act. First of all, the war caused food shortages, which required the belligerent countries to implement prohibition to ensure food reserves and supplies during wartime. Secondly, everything related to Germany was illegal because German beer and brewing technology were very popular in Europe and America at that time. In this environment, the American prohibition movement became part of the international prohibition. In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the "Leaver Act", prohibiting the use of grain to make wine, and the word "prohibition" began to appear in the federal legal provisions. Following the end of World War I, Congress passed the Wartime Prohibition Act in November 1918, against Wilson's opposition. In fact, the end date of the Wartime Prohibition Act continued until the 18th Constitutional Amendment went into effect. Thus, before the formal ratification of the constitutional amendment, a nationwide prohibition law had already appeared. The combined forces formed by the various forces in the wave of prohibition have finally achieved substantial political results. In December 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. On January 16, 1919, more than 36 state legislatures passed amendments and the bill was formally approved. To ensure the implementation of the constitutional amendments, the Walstead Act, drafted by ASL leader Wheeler and amended by Rep. Wilson vetoed it as unconstitutional during the president's deliberation, but the Senate and House of Representatives again passed the bill with a two-thirds majority. " came into force on January 16, 1920. The Prohibition Order added more stringent provisions to the "Wartime Prohibition Act", specifying that the maximum alcohol content should not exceed 0. 5%, and determined the guiding method for industrial alcohol. For the past few decades, Prohibitionists and related organizations have identified the trade and consumption of alcohol as a culprit in social poverty, crime, disease, and political corruption. After the promulgation of Prohibition, they looked forward with confidence to a new era of American society. Indeed, the consumption of alcohol in American society declined considerably in the years preceding Prohibition. However, just as the habits formed by one person are difficult to change, so are the social habits of a group of people. Prohibition only thinks about cutting off the supply of alcohol at the source, that is, prohibiting the production, sale and transportation of products in the United States, but it cannot suppress the demand for alcohol in the whole society. In the United States in the early 20th century, the economy was booming, enjoying the last boom before the Great Depression. The expansion of consumer credit brought about by the "rapid development" of the economy stimulated people's desire to consume all kinds of material products, while the "prohibition" similar to "asceticism" was unacceptable to many Americans at that time and was bound to happen. resisting. Under Prohibition, it is illegal to sell alcohol in public with the exception of medical and religious and communion. As a result, bootleg wine prevailed, and the production and circulation of alcohol were turned underground, and the channels were nothing more than smuggling and smuggling. On the one hand, many city dwellers at that time learned to brew bootleg wine by purchasing processing stills. At the same time, speakeasies were on the rise. Throughout Prohibition, per capita beer consumption in the U.S. declined, but alcohol sales grew exponentially, with thousands of pharmacists finding ways to be allowed to sell alcohol on prescription. However, illicitly obtaining alcohol comes at a price. According to incomplete statistics, the number of people who died of alcohol poisoning in 1929 was more than 30 times that before the introduction of Prohibition. At the same time, illegal smuggling emerged in an endless stream. During the prohibition period, about 15,000 tons of various alcoholic products illegally entered the US market every year. There were more than 200,000 illegal alcohol sales outlets, and there were even more underground taverns. The social problems caused by this are numerous. In short, in the 13-year prohibition era, American society has had more consequences than before the prohibition because of prohibition. Great changes have taken place in American society, and one of the most important manifestations is that smuggled alcohol has led to the rise of organized crime. 50,000 tons of various alcoholic products illegally flowed into the US market. There are more than 200,000 illegal alcohol sales outlets, and there are so many underground taverns. The resulting social problems are numerous. In short, in the 13-year prohibition era, American society has had more consequences than before the prohibition because of prohibition. Great changes have taken place in American society, and one of the most important manifestations is that smuggled alcohol has led to the rise of organized crime. 50,000 tons of various alcoholic products illegally flowed into the US market. There are more than 200,000 illegal alcohol sales outlets, and there are so many underground taverns. The resulting social problems are numerous. In short, in the 13-year prohibition era, American society has had more consequences than before the prohibition because of prohibition. Great changes have taken place in American society, and one of the most important manifestations is that smuggled alcohol has led to the rise of organized crime.
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