Cultural Context Alcohol Essay - 2143 Words

Cultural Context: Alcohol Alcohol has always been a controversial topic in the United States for social, political, and religious reasons. The negative effects of drinking came to the foreground of American concern during the early twentieth century. This was a time of great prosperity followed by the Great Depression. Both of these eras led Americans to turn to or against liquor as the cause or demise of their success. Prohibition marked a change in the American way of life and is best documented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in their contemporary works. Both of these authors grappled with alcohol use and abuse within their own lives and writing. On 12:01 a.m. on July 16, 1920 the 18th Amendment went into†¦show more content†¦The feminists chimed in that drinking was also the root of unemployment and domestic abuse. Business tycoons quickly jumped on board with the prohibitionists. They, especially Ford and Rockefeller, believed that alcohol consumption was causing industrial inefficiency and thus costing them money (Parrish, 96). A major impetus for the passage of a national prohibition law was World War I. â€Å"World War I made Prohibition seem patriotic, since many breweries were owned by German Americans† and it was feared that money spent on alcohol would be supporting the Kaiser and his propaganda, (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441). The Anti-Saloon League and the WCTU asked the compelling question â€Å"how could a government that called for maximum agricultural production†¦justify the wasteful use of grains for intoxicants?† (Parrish, 96). These points were extremely valid and the American people, at least in Congress, responded. It is unlikely that Prohibition would have passed without this sense of patriotic fervor and loyalty. The irony of the prohibition movement is that hard drinking was already illegal in eighteen states by 1917. The War Prohibition Act and the Volstead Act had already limited the alcohol content and availability of beer and wine (Levine, 1). The result banned nearly 65% of the adult population from legal drinking three years before Prohibition went into effect, (Parrish, 96). It is also importantShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Alcoholism On The World Health Organization1447 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction People in Australia are among the most prolific alcohol drinkers in the world according to the World Health Organisation’s report published in 2014. Australians over the age of 15 drink in average of 12.2 litres per capita per year which puts us at quite at a high level by world standards, even more than the Britons (11.6 litres) and the Americans (9.2 litres) respectively. 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