The Opposer of Temperance. Hand-colored woodcut. Philadelphia, circa 1855. You uphold the rum-traders madly When you cannot hold up yourself You swallow their poison, and gladly You aid them in robbing yourself.
 Exhibit Tour
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The Opposer of Temperance. Hand-colored woodcut. Philadelphia, circa 1855. You uphold the rum-traders madly When you cannot hold up yourself You swallow their poison, and gladly You aid them in robbing yourself.
Exhibit Tour
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Temperance advocates entered the political arena
and created turmoil with demands for the control of alcohol. Of course,
it was difficult for the American government to balance ideals of
personal freedom with responsibilities to citizens. The "Maine
Law" of 1851 proclaimed an entire state "dry" and opened
the door for a dozen other states to have some form of prohibition.
It was at this time that the temperance movement shifted its goals
from keeping people away from liquor to keeping liquor away from people.
Of course, the temperance movement itself was characterized by a variety
of political alignments: most temperance activists were also involved
with the antislavery movement and later with woman suffrage, and different
temperance organizations had different ideas of how best to achieve
their goals.