The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition

Alexander Soltero

Mrs. Galarza Johnson

HPSC 106

10/20/10

The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition

W.J. Rorabough’s book The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition is a revisionist historian’s approach to a topic that has had little coverage over time. The topic is a period in time in which the American populace consumed the most alcohol per capita per year. The time period was between 1790 and 1840, this being the period preceding the prohibition period in the United States. The novel is a method of revisiting a time period that perhaps was looked over by historians because even today the topic of alcohol and drinking in general is taboo in academia. Rorabough structures the book in such a way that each chapter explains a different section of the time period but also so that each section leaves the reader with perhaps more questions than answers.

In the first sections of the book the author states the basics of the time period. He outlines the gradual decline of alcohol consumption throughout the period but does not begin to explain why this occurred. He simply begins to provide the framework for the rest of the chapters. The author explains through statistics that the United States was once at a level of alcohol consumption to rival the Irish and even the English. During this time period only the Swedish out drank the Americans. He also goes on to explain that alcohol came in many forms but that distilled spirits were the most consumed throughout the states. Those other beverages such as wine and champagne were not the subjects of popular consumption.

Rorabough then continues and begins to explain who was involved in the consumption of alcohol during this time period and why it was so prominent. He tells his audience that it was not simply white men who owned land that participated in drinking. In fact he states that it was everyone from a slave to a child and everyone in between. He mentions that for a child to drink with his father it was a sign of maturity, and also one of pride for his father. Rorabough goes on to explain how women, who were not necessarily the most accepted people in society, would drink in the home instead of in taverns. However there were some taverns that were run by women, and these women would also imbibe. Furthermore, alcohol was known as God’s good creature, and was used medicinally as well as to attain inebriation. Alcohol was also used as a drinking substitute to water, this being so because water at the time could not always be trusted. Many times if water was not boiled correctly or if it had been contaminated post boiling the person drinking it would suffer from a large array of illnesses. Thus alcohol, which was known to be safe for drinking, was drunk in order to prevent illness due to bad water.

Finally Rorabough begins to explain the phenomena that took place during this time period. The phenomena that was the ideological shift in the entire nation’s perspective toward alcohol and drinking in general. He begins to offer up theories as to why this shift occurred. It seems incredible to believe that in modern times we cannot get our Republicans and Democrats to agree on an issue, let alone an entire nation. And yet throughout this novel we are told that and shown that during this time period the people of the United States did in fact get on the same page and agree that alcohol was the devil. So why the sudden shift, surely 50 years is quite sudden relative to the amount of time human history has existed. Well, Rorabough says that one theory is that the nation learned of the harmful effects of alcohol and therefore began to steer clear of it. However he explains that Doctor Benjamin Rush had spoken out about the harmful effects of alcohol long before this shift to a deaf ear. That nobody had listened before, therefore, there was no feasible reason for it to occur 50 years later. He goes on to give another theory that because industrialization was occurring employers wanted their workforce to be sober in order to be proficient and productive. This however is shot down because industrialization followed this movement by nearly a decade. Finally Rorabough explains that the higher class felt it was losing its hold over the lower classes. Therefore they started the temperance movement to influence the lower classes; again this theory does not apply because all members of all classes participated in the temperance movement.

Rorabough may not have the answers to why the temperance movement occurred, and this in fact was his goal. He explains in his preface that he aims only to provide speculations that might one day be proven, but also to provide questions that someone else will answer.