Why did Antebellum reformers advocate for the temperance movements?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. Since the Revolution, whiskey had become the most popular American beverage as it was
cheaper than milk or beer and safer than water.
2. Hard liquor was frequently consumed with food as a table beverage, even at breakfast, and
children sometimes imbibed along with adults.
3. Annual consumption of distilled beverages in the 1820s was almost triple what it is today and alcoholism had reached epidemic proportions.
4. Temperance reformers viewed drinking as a threat to public morality, as it represented a loss of control and loss of moral responsibility that spawned crime, vice, and disorder.
5. Drinking was mainly a male vice and the main target of temperance propaganda was the husband and father who abused, neglected, or abandoned his wife and children because of alcohol.
6. The drinking habits of the poor and laboring classes also aroused concern, with a fear that
drunken mobs would attack private property and create chaos.
7. Alcoholism was seen as the greatest obstacle to a republic of God-fearing, self-disciplined
citizens.