On with the temperance movement!

From after the Civil war to the late nineteenth century, a temperance movement started to rise. People felt that conditions in cities could still be improved there weren’t as many saloons.  There were too many saloons in the cities.  The center of those battling this were Protestant women because women were the ones who got the bad end of having men drink; they were victimized by their drunk fathers or husbands.  They did marches, prayer vigils, and rallies to try to reduce or totally close down saloons.  Because of this, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was created, having at one point 245,000 members.  They pushed for reform and influenced many other groups to do as well.   Eventually, by the early 20th century, half of the saloons were closed.  These movements have not died.  There are temperance groups all over the United States, hoping to gain the same success as this group achieved.  More specifically, in Youngstown, people are complaining about the excess in alcohol, that it is not proportional to the population of the city (the same reason why the temperance movement started).