The_Anti_Saloon_League

Anti-Saloon League The Anti-Saloon League was a leading organisation in the United States for prohibition from 1893-1933. It was founded by Howard Hyde Russell who also became the first leader of the Anti-saloon League. The members of the organisation believed that American society was in moral decline and that as more and more people began to move from rural areas to urbanized ones that they were losing touch with their religious values. The Ohio Anti-Saloon League hoped to reduce alcohol consumption, if not outright prohibit it, by enforcing existing laws and by implementing new ones. This organisation also sought to eliminate bars, taverns, and saloons, believing that these businesses promoted the consumption of alcohol. This same year, temperance supporters in Washington, DC, formed their own Anti-Saloon League. In 1895, the Ohio and Washington organizations united to create the National Anti-Saloon League, which eventually became the Anti-Saloon League of America. The anti-saloon league recruited followers by using local churches, especially Methodists ones. They were also able to influence people’s opinions and share their message through print. The Anti-saloon league developed its own publishing house “The American issue Publishing Company”, based in Ohio and lead by Ernest Cherrington. The organisation also lobbied members of the Democratic and Republican Parties to support Prohibition. An example of this is the governor's race in Ohio in 1909. Governor Myron T. Herrick was a member of the Republican Party and strongly opposed the Ohio Anti-Saloon League's attempt to allow local communities to prohibit alcohol. The Ohio league first sought a Republican to challenge Herrick for the party's nomination. Upon failing to find a potential candidate, the League endorsed the Democratic candidate, John M. Pattison. Pattison easily won the election, illustrating the increasing power of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League and the Anti-Saloon League of America. In the beginning the ant-saloon league focused mainly on implementing anti-alcohol laws in local communities, but as support grew, with John D. Rockefeller among the supporters, the League then began a national campaign to implement prohibition. In 1913, the League sponsored a parade in Washington, DC. After the parade, Purley Baker, the League’s superintendent presented an amendment to the United States Congress and to the House of Representatives. This amendment would be the basis for the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Anti-Saloon League inundated the U.S. Congress with letters and petitions, demanding the prohibition of alcohol. With the outbreak of World War I, the League also used anti-German sentiment to fight for Prohibition. Many brewers in the United States were of German extraction. Utilizing patriotism and morality, the Anti-Saloon League succeeded in getting the Eighteenth Amendment passed by the Congress and ratified by the necessary number of states. With Prohibition in effect, the Anti-Saloon League entered a tumultuous period. Wayne Wheeler, a prominent League member, believed that the League should focus on enforcing Prohibition by enacting more stringent laws. Cherrington disagreed and argued that educating children about the evils of alcohol would prevent consumption of liquor and the flaunting of the law in the future. This division dramatically weakened the Anti-Saloon League and allowed opponents to Prohibition to build momentum.