Temperance societies began to spring up in major cities across the country. Most societies called for a more moderate approach to alcohol rather than total prohibition. In fact, most states that passed prohibition laws quickly repealed them because the government could not tax an illegal (liquor in this case) substance. Also, generally speaking, many of the temperance unions were religious in nature.
For this week's blog, you will listen to this podcast and examine the cartoon below from 1846. In your comments, please include the following 3 items: 1) The most interesting point made by the professor who was interviewed in the podcast. 2) Your interpretation of this cartoon's meaning. 3) Create your own anti-liquor slogan as if you were the leader of a temperance union.
The steps in this cartoon, titled "The Drunkard's Progress", are as follows:
1) A Glass With A Friend
2) A Glass To Keep The Bold Chat
3) A Glass Too Much
4) Drunk & Riotous
5) The Summit Attained. Jolly Companions. A Confirmed Drunkard.
6) Poverty & Disease
7) Forsaken By Friends
8) Desperation & Crime
9) Death By Suicide
The most interesting point Professor William Rorabaugh made was that Americans were drinking three times more alcohol than today. It was mostly straight whiskey. That is a lot of alcohol and it makes a lot more sense why people call America the Alcohol Republic.
ReplyDeleteThe way I interpret this cartoon is this: the cartoonist wanted to send a message about drinking or getting drunk. The drawing shows a man who eventually becomes a drunkard. It shows the steps that lead to becoming an alcoholic and then the consequences of being one. According to the artist, it leads to death by suicide. He is saying that drinking is bad and you shouldn’t do it at all. My slogan for the anti-liquor is: “Drink Water. It’s Better for You” :)
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I think the most interesting point that Dr. William Rorabaugh made was about Thomas Jefferson and how he tried to grow wine grapes but it didn’t work out well. I guess he liked wine so much that he wanted to be able to just go out in his backyard or something and just squeeze some wine out of the grapes and drink it and be happy. I think the cartoon is like a life span of an alcoholic and the higher the steps, the worse your actions and brain get. Step 1 is having a glass with a friend and if you did that you wouldn’t think it was too harmless but then as time progressed you would have regretted the glass with a friend because then you be committing suicide and would be miserable. I found the cartoon very funny actually. My anti- liquor slogan is… if you drink liquor your belly will get thicker!!! :) (157)
ReplyDeleteTo me the most interesting thing the professor in the podcast said was that this country's founding fathers could have been drunk when they signed the constitution. They even had the meeting in a tavern!
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon has a very true message put in a clever way. It shows how drinking starts “innocently” with just a little bit of alcohol. Before you know it, though, you become a drunkard, you start doing things kind of subconsciously, you waste all your money on alcohol because you are addicted, and eventually you get killed, either by suicide or by doing something stupid because you are so drunk. So drink water. It's a lot better.
My anti-liquor slogan is “Drinketh not booze, or thy life you shall lose.”(127)
To me it was very interesting what Professor Rorabaugh said about John Adams drinking a pint of hard apple cider every morning. It is pretty weird that he thought he was so healthy because of the alcohol.
ReplyDeleteI think that this cartoon has a lot of meaning. Drinking can just start out as a “once- in-a-while” thing, but quickly, your glasses get bigger and bigger, and you start having them more and more frequently. Eventually it becomes an addiction and you can’t stop. Then it just goes down hill from there. My anti liquor slogan is: “Fifteen less drinks can save you fifteen years or more in federal prison” :) (110 words)
I think the most interesting thing the dude said was that once a man got married to a woman who didn't drink he drank less often too. To me the cartoon shows how drinking is fun at first but it really messes up your life later on. It is dangerous and ultimately causes death. Once you get started it is hard to stop. The man lost friends and committed crimes he probably wouldn’t have. I think it’s a very realistic cartoon. I don’t want any spirit but the Holy Spirit. My slogan is "The more you drink the less you think!" (101)
ReplyDeleteTo me, the most interesting fact is that after the weekend employers would call Monday “Saint Monday.” I think that the cartoon shows the steps of a drinker’s life. For every drink you have there is a consequence and then for every next drink the consequence gets worse. I think that the illustrator did a good job at capturing what could happen to you if you decide to drink. It doesn’t take a lot of liquor to make you go ‘loopy’ and that’s what a ‘boatload’ of men did in the 1800’s. If I was going to campaign against liquor my slogan would be… “Liquor or Life.”
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DeleteI personally think the most interesting point Professor William Rorabaugh made was that you could pass a law banning alcohol but that didn’t stop people from drinking it. Even though people have rules and laws that we are supposed to follow that does not mean that people always do. To me the cartoon was showing how just one drink can impact your life and for every drink after that you are basically committing suicide. Even if it is in small steps the impact of it all is what matters. My slogan is.. “One less drink a day keeps the police away.” (101 words)
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting point Professor William Roabaugh was that back then they drank 3x more alcohol then we do today. I think that is interesting because people drink a lot today so they drank WWWAAAYYY to much.The cartoon to me means that when you drink once you are committed to drinking the rest of your life no matter what. When you get to the very top step you drink so much that you don't know what your going to do and you will kill yourself.88 My campaign slogan is " Drink if you dare but you'll go to jail." (101)
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting fact that Professor William Rorabaugh said was about Thomas Jefferson, and how he tried to grow wine grapes but did not work. To me the cartoon says drinking is not all that bad first. Then once you keep drinking more and more the worse things get. Once you hit step five you are a confirmed drunk and things go all down hill from there. Once you start it really hard to stop. Even a little can do a lot to you. The picture shows steps to your death. My slogans is: you are what you drink. (101)
ReplyDeleteI found most of what Professor Rorabaugh said to be interesting; however, if I have to pick one point that stands out it would be the "pickling" of the liver. I know how bad drinking can be, I just did not realize that drinking could actually destroy a person's liver. To me, the cartoon shows the things that can happen to you as you continue to drink. The more you drink, the worse you behave and the closer to death you become. This is shown by the guy holding the gun to his head ready to commit suicide. My slogan would be: "Drink liquor, die quicker!" (106)
ReplyDeleteTo me the absolutely mOst interesting thing that Professor William Rorabauh said was that people drank three times more alcohol than they do today. People drink a lot today it is hard to imagine them drinking three times more. My interpretation of the cartoon is that the stairs with the people and sayings on it are the steps to becoming a drunkard. It starts out as a couple drinks a couple nights a week and then quickly goes downhill and every drink it becomes header to quit. My slogan is... " don't be a dork keep it corked."
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DeleteThe most interesting thing that the professor said was that Americans used to drink three times more than they do now. Wow, how could they even stand up? Everything had to be a mess. The streets were most likely lined with vomit and everyone probably spoke in whispers because of their constant hangover. Now on to something less rant shaped. The cartoon shows the life of a drunkard. It starts with everything being good. Then things start to slip. Finally the cartoon says “Hey look, you’re dead.” My anti-liquor slogan is “Alcohol burns a hole in your wallet.” (101)
ReplyDeleteI think that the most interesting fact that Professor William Rorabaugh made was that the men back then drank three times as much alcohol has Americans do today. I can't imagine how much whiskey they had to drink because today Americans still drink a lot. I think that the cartoon is showing the different phases of their drinking. I think that it is saying that the more they drank the crazier the things got that they did. The first thing is just a glass with a friend, but when you get to the end it says death by suicide so that shows how the things changed the more they drank. My anti-liquor slogan would be ... "Rethink your 3rd drink." (120 words)
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing that I found, or heard, was that people drank three times as much as they do today! WOW! I thought drinking and all of the problems associated with drinking was bad today! It said that even children, John Adams, drank alcohol. So not only would you have adults running around drunk, but children as well! I thought Eli had a really good point about the people talking in whispers, thats probably more true than we know haha. The cartoon is very interesting, yes it shows the progression of a drunk, but it really applies to anything you do, in a way. If you do something, and you keep on doing it until it becomes a complete obsession and takes over your life, just thought I would expand on that point. My slogan is -"Dont drink, you will die" (142 words)
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