THE WOMANS CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION

The WCTU is argued to be the main cause of the debate over the ratification of the 18th Amendment. In the 1870’s the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) looked at alcohol as one of the main corrupting influences in the United States of America.  The women who participated in the Union thought that it caused crime, violence, poverty and general discontent (“Women’s Christian Temperance Union”).  Therefore, women did a lot of protesting and fighting during the era to get alcohol to be illegalized, even those who were not apart of the WCTU protested.   There were women such as Carry Nation, who was one of the famous female prohibitionists at that time.  She got quite famous for clutching a hatchet and breaking into saloons and bars to attack any forms of alcohol she could find; bottles, kegs, glasses etc.  People began to follow her lead and use violence to make the lawmakers pass a law against alcohol.   She also gave lectures and speeches to the nation on how evil alcohol was through her eyes (Lender 364).  As you can see, women influenced the debate a great much.

Carry Nation: a famous female prohibitionist known for smashing alcohol barrels with a hatchet.

"Teetotaler Carry Nation takes to entering saloons with a hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. She occationally greets bartenders with w cheery 'Good morning destroyer of men's souls'"

"Those for prohibition such as WTCU, used statistics to support their side of the debate such as by the end of the 18th century, less than $200 was spend on education, $150 million on church, $900 million on meat, and $1 billion on alcohol" (“Women’s Christian Temperance Union”).  This really showed some of the priorities in the United States and gave it a bad name in other words.  But those who were not in favor of prohibition such as the Crusaders argued that it was a way of escape when people were in rough times.