During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a temperance movement existed in Canada that attempted, with some success, to change the legal regulations regarding the consumption, manufacture and sale of alcohol. While often overshadowed by the seemingly more important American temperance movement and eventual prohibition in the United States, the Canadian temperance movement held a great deal of significance for the shaping of both the Canadian legal system in relation to the use of alcohol and the public’s perception about the personal consumption of alcohol. Although nation-wide Canadian prohibition was not enacted at the federal level until 1918, which is often seen as a response to the First World War, the organizations behind the temperance
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While some organizations fought for the total ban of all aspects of alcohol in the form of national prohibition, others wanted a reduction in the availability of hard liquor or spirits for example. In the first half of the nineteenth century the movement was spearheaded by Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Congregationalist who employed a ‘moral suasionst’ campaign. The temperance movement originated as a response to the abuses arising in new settlements, like British North America, where it was easier and more profitable to distill local grain rather than important alcohol from abroad. Seen as a middle class and respectable movement from the beginning, one of the chief motivations behind the temperance movement was the desire to curb the economic lose and crime that arose from drunkenness. Once large cities began to be established they became the target of the temperance movement because they were seen as being full of sin and foreigners, with the problems within the city only being agitated further by the consumption of alcohol. Because of alcohol’s addictive character which in turn undermined an individual’s capacity to choose freely, the temperance movement’s position was that it was therefore necessary for government intervention for the sake of public …show more content…
A testimony from John L. Marsh written on July 20, 1880 states “As Police Magistrate of the City of Fredericton I have much pleasure in being able to certify to the favourable results of the Canada Temperance Act since it came into operation in this city.” Because national legislation, like the Canada Temperance Act, was often seen as ineffective in reducing the societal effects of alcohol, Foster utilized testimonies like Marsh’s to help portray a contrary message, a theme that recurs throughout the book. At one point Foster argues that “whenever prohibition has been fairly tried, it has always proved eminently successful in diminishing drunkenness and crime, and promoting sobriety, thrift, and happiness.” This section of Foster’s book specifically addresses the common threat to the idea of prohibition – that it can never be successful. By utilizing testimonies and arguments that show prohibitionary legislation as a positive change, Foster is able to convince the reader that in other areas of the country prohibition is successful and therefore can be successful on the
While some organizations fought for the total ban of all aspects of alcohol in the form of national prohibition, others wanted a reduction in the availability of hard liquor or spirits for example. In the first half of the nineteenth century the movement was spearheaded by Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Congregationalist who employed a ‘moral suasionst’ campaign. The temperance movement originated as a response to the abuses arising in new settlements, like British North America, where it was easier and more profitable to distill local grain rather than important alcohol from abroad. Seen as a middle class and respectable movement from the beginning, one of the chief motivations behind the temperance movement was the desire to curb the economic lose and crime that arose from drunkenness. Once large cities began to be established they became the target of the temperance movement because they were seen as being full of sin and foreigners, with the problems within the city only being agitated further by the consumption of alcohol. Because of alcohol’s addictive character which in turn undermined an individual’s capacity to choose freely, the temperance movement’s position was that it was therefore necessary for government intervention for the sake of public …show more content…
A testimony from John L. Marsh written on July 20, 1880 states “As Police Magistrate of the City of Fredericton I have much pleasure in being able to certify to the favourable results of the Canada Temperance Act since it came into operation in this city.” Because national legislation, like the Canada Temperance Act, was often seen as ineffective in reducing the societal effects of alcohol, Foster utilized testimonies like Marsh’s to help portray a contrary message, a theme that recurs throughout the book. At one point Foster argues that “whenever prohibition has been fairly tried, it has always proved eminently successful in diminishing drunkenness and crime, and promoting sobriety, thrift, and happiness.” This section of Foster’s book specifically addresses the common threat to the idea of prohibition – that it can never be successful. By utilizing testimonies and arguments that show prohibitionary legislation as a positive change, Foster is able to convince the reader that in other areas of the country prohibition is successful and therefore can be successful on the