Drink, in the minds of antebellum temperance reformers, represented the threat of an increasingly urban, industrial world. Contrasting the drunkards' lack of restraint with their own thrift and sobriety, these members of the emerging middle class lay claim to respectability, virtue, and moral leadership. As they sought to legitimate their own authority, reformers also employed temperance literature to propagate middle-class ideas about the nature of women and their role as guardians of the home.Stories of women as innocent victims and loving saviors filled temperance literature. Ministers,...

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives examines the history of alcohol worldwide and goes beyond the historical lens to examine alcohol as a cultural and social phenomenon, used both for good and for ill. While these roots are traced back through nearly all human societies for the past thousands of years, many results are still present in today's society. Some examples include Germany's repute of being known as a "beer culture" and France's as a "wine culture." With alcohol having many purposes and significance, it has become a strong part of cultures...