Profits, Power, and Prohibition

John J. Rumbarger , former assistant executive secretary of the American Historical Association and editor of Prologue: Journal of the National Archives, lives and works in Washington, D.C.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I The Early Years: The Movement Defines Itself 1800-18701. The Social and Ideological Origins of Drink Reform, 1800-1836 2. The Politics of Moral Reform: Social Class and Nonpartisanship in the Temperance Movement, 1836-1860 3. "Practical Temperance": Reorganization of the Temperance Movement, 1865-1870 Part II The Middle Years: The Tradition Fails, 1865-18904. Ends and Means: Temperance Confronts an Industrial World, 1870-1884 5. The Beginning of Conservative Reaction: Liquor Control and the Critique of the Industrial City, 1880-1890 Part III The Climactic Years: The Emergence and Failure of Antisaloonism, 1890-19146. The Collapse of Third-Party Prohibition and Emergence of Political Antisaloonism, 1890-1900 7. Antisaloonism and Urban Reform, 1890-1915 8. Antisaloonism and Industrial Development, 1890-1915 Part IV The Reemergence of Prohibition, 1914-1919 9. The Anti-Saloon League of America and the Resurgence of National Prohibition, 1900-1917 10. Denouement: Drink Reform and the American Experience Epilogue: The Era of Constitutional Prohibition Notes Sources Index

John Rumbarger's Profits, Power, and Prohibition is not only the definitive book on the origins of Prohibition in the United States but it is also a remarkably vivid dissection of the subtle interaction between politics, business interest, and social thought throughout the formative years of America's industrialization. No other writer has offered as many completely original insights into the causes of Prohibition or its secular significance as Rumbarger. It is required reading for anyone interested in the sources of liquor reform as well as the role of businessmen in the passage of legislation with, by far, the greatest consequences of all of the many post-civil War reform measures to daily mores and society. for all those interested in politics, social mores, and power in modern American history, Profits, Power, and Prohibition will alter profoundly their traditional understanding of liquor control and its real significance." — Gabriel Kolko, Distinguished Professor of History, University of York"About half a century ago, I thought of the Prohibition movement as chiefly an agrarian protest against the urban saloon and its use by immigrants and other urban workers. Dr. Rumbarger has convincingly shown how much the movement, even from its origins, depended on the effort of employers to maintain an efficient labor force." — Thomas C. Cochran, Benjamin Franklin Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania