|
Detroit
– National Prohibition Test Site
| 
German brewers circulated advertisements
extolling the virtues of lager beer for the young and old
alike.
From “Rum Running and t
he Roaring Twenties” by Philip P. Mason |
The
temperance movement was much stronger in Michigan
than in Ontario. In the 1800s this influenced both Hiram
Walker and J.P. Wiser’s decisions to move their distilleries
to Canada.
The
temperance movement in the US is documented as far back as 1733
when the colony of Georgia became the first colony to establish
a prohibition decree. It was revoked in 1742.
In 1789 farmers of Litchfield, Connecticut began the first loose
association of a temperance movement in the US by prohibiting its
workers from drinking alcohol.
The
temperance movement may have won the battle to legislate prohibition,
but it lost the war to enforce it.
The
first official association of the movement was founded in Boston
in 1826 as the American Temperance Society. Emerging unions also
dictated abstinence from alcohol to its members. The Anti-Saloon
League was founded in 1892 in Oberlin, Ohio by Rev Howard Russell
and is credited with leading the way for a dry nation. The theatrical,
hatchet-wheeling antics of Carry Nation brought additional attention
to the effort.
Michigan was no stranger to the temperance movement either. By 1911
forty of its eighty-three counties had gone dry. On May 1, 1917
state legislation took effect and Michigan went “dry”
– saloon dry not liquor dry. But, due to a peculiar federal
law it was illegal to buy or make alcoholic beverages in any state
where their sale was illegal.
Michigan, and Detroit specifically, became a test site for national
prohibition. Thus began a steady stream of vehicles to the Ohio
border. This served as a trial run for the multitude of citizens
who would soon be running rum (and other alcoholic beverages) across
the waters from Ontario.
The war effort had an effect on the issue of prohibition in the
US as well. On December 1, 1918 under authority of the Food Control
Bill, President Wilson prohibited the use of barley for brewing.
In 1919 the Damon Law, the legislation that enabled Michigan to
enforce its prohibition law, was ruled unconstitutional by way of
a technicality. Soon after, however, the federal Volstead Act –
prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transport of all beer, wine
and spirits – was put into effect on January 16, 1920. This
law gave authorities new support in their fight against the booze
drinking public.
|
|
Hatchet wielding Carry
Nation, who literally busted open rumshops at the turn of the
last century, symbolized early prohibition movements. She was
famous for leading groups of raiders who wrecked saloons with
rocks and hatchets.
from “The Rumrunners, a prohibition scrapbook” by
C. H. (Marty) Gervais |
This
legislation ushered in an era of corruption and chaos. By the late
1920s the federal government was expending 27% of its enforcement
budget in Michigan. Interestingly, Michigan was the first state
to ratify the 21st amendment, thus rescinding prohibition.
The temperance movement may have won the battle to legislate prohibition,
but it lost the war to enforce it.
Click
here to read the next article in the prohibition 1 issue
Back
to prohibition main
|
