Why Is The Prohibition So Important To The Progressive Movement?
Introduction
Prohibition began with the ratification of the 18th American Constitutional Amendment on January 16th, 1919 prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages for consumption.[footnoteRef:1] Prohibition was the end product of opposing views of social activism, and political reform known as the Progressive Era in America from 1890 to 1920 and was the first legislative attempt of the federal government to regulate consumption of a legal product in the United States.[footnoteRef:2] It was an era dominated by the attempts of several social, financial and political factions to reform ?American life?.[footnoteRef:3] The historiography of prohibition is abundant and has gradually developed into four divisions …show more content…
He would arguably be the first historian to review prohibition without having personal experience of the era or being influenced by people who were active participants during prohibition. His objectivity would not be affected by having lived during the events. The 2nd change is in the documentation by Sinclair. He creates a narrative history similar to that of Asbury but continues the link prohibition to the progressive movement. Although Sinclair takes the same approach as Ashbury in his bibliography statement, he specifically references inaccurate, misleading, and fabricated documents on several occurrences.[footnoteRef:11] Sinclair also references Hofstadter and Timberlake over 14 times during in his publication, which propagates the theories and opinions of previous authors. The 3rd substantial change was Timberlake?s significant use of specific religious documents as primary sources in his text. Throughout his publications he references minutes, sermons, letters, and religious text condemning and debating the use of alcohol. He includes sources from Protestant, Catholic, and Episcopalian leaders as well as from religious scholars reviewing the same primary sources [11: . Andrew Sinclair, Prohibition: The Era of Excess, (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1963),
Prohibition began with the ratification of the 18th American Constitutional Amendment on January 16th, 1919 prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages for consumption.[footnoteRef:1] Prohibition was the end product of opposing views of social activism, and political reform known as the Progressive Era in America from 1890 to 1920 and was the first legislative attempt of the federal government to regulate consumption of a legal product in the United States.[footnoteRef:2] It was an era dominated by the attempts of several social, financial and political factions to reform ?American life?.[footnoteRef:3] The historiography of prohibition is abundant and has gradually developed into four divisions …show more content…
He would arguably be the first historian to review prohibition without having personal experience of the era or being influenced by people who were active participants during prohibition. His objectivity would not be affected by having lived during the events. The 2nd change is in the documentation by Sinclair. He creates a narrative history similar to that of Asbury but continues the link prohibition to the progressive movement. Although Sinclair takes the same approach as Ashbury in his bibliography statement, he specifically references inaccurate, misleading, and fabricated documents on several occurrences.[footnoteRef:11] Sinclair also references Hofstadter and Timberlake over 14 times during in his publication, which propagates the theories and opinions of previous authors. The 3rd substantial change was Timberlake?s significant use of specific religious documents as primary sources in his text. Throughout his publications he references minutes, sermons, letters, and religious text condemning and debating the use of alcohol. He includes sources from Protestant, Catholic, and Episcopalian leaders as well as from religious scholars reviewing the same primary sources [11: . Andrew Sinclair, Prohibition: The Era of Excess, (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1963),