Dataset Viewer
query_id
int64 0
152
| query
stringclasses 153
values | title
stringlengths 4
262
| document
stringlengths 34
126k
| source_url
stringlengths 24
289
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | who surrendered in the battle of fort sumter | Union forces surrender at Fort Sumter | After a 33-hour bombardment by Confederate cannons, Union forces surrender Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor. The first engagement of the war ended in Rebel victory.
The surrender concluded a standoff that began with South Carolina’s secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. When President Abraham Lincoln sent word to Charleston in early April that he planned to send food to the beleaguered garrison, the Confederates took action. They opened fire on Sumter in the predawn of April 12. Over the next day, nearly 4,000 rounds were hurled toward the black silhouette of Fort Sumter.
Inside Sumter was its commander, Major Robert Anderson, nine officers, 68 enlisted men, 8 musicians, and 43 construction workers who were still putting the finishing touches on the fort. Union Captain Abner Doubleday , the man often inaccurately credited with inventing the game of baseball, returned fire nearly two hours after the barrage began. By the morning of April 13, the garrison in Sumter was in dire straits. The soldiers had sustained only minor injuries, but they could not hold out much longer. The fort was badly damaged, and the Confederates' shots were becoming more precise. Around noon, the flagstaff was shot away. Louis Wigfall, a former U.S. senator from Texas, rowed out without permission to see if the garrison was trying to surrender. Anderson decided that further resistance was futile, and he ran a white flag up a makeshift flagpole.
The first engagement of the war was over, and the only casualty had been a Confederate horse. The Union force was allowed to leave for the north; before leaving, the soldiers fired a 100-gun salute. During the salute, one soldier was killed and another mortally wounded by a prematurely exploding cartridge. The Civil War had officially begun.
The Civil War and Its Legacy | https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fort-sumter-surrenders |
0 | who surrendered in the battle of fort sumter | Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861) | The first engagement of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861. After 34 hours of fighting, the Union surrendered the fort to the Confederates.
When Abraham Lincoln took office, the nation was breaking apart. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had already seceded. In his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln asserted that secession was unconstitutional, that the Union of the states was perpetual, and states could not leave it at will.
As the first states seceded, they seized most forts, arsenals, and federal property inside their borders. On April 10, 1861, Brigadier General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the U.S. garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Major Robert Anderson refused.
On April 12, the Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 p.m., April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The battle had started at 4:30 a.m. and ended 34 hours later.
Major Anderson notified Secretary of War Simon Cameron of the outcome of the battle by telegram five days after he surrendered to Confederate Brigadier General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, as seen in this document.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. From 1863 to 1865, the Confederates at Fort Sumter withstood a 22-month siege by Union forces. During this time, most of the fort was reduced to brick rubble. | https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/telegram-announcing-the-surrender-of-fort-sumter |
0 | who surrendered in the battle of fort sumter | Battle of Fort Sumter - Wikipedia | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 1861 battle that began the American Civil War. For the 1863 battle, see Second Battle of Fort Sumter .
The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender by the United States Army , beginning the American Civil War .
Following the declaration of secession by South Carolina on December 20, 1860, its authorities demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor . On December 26, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army surreptitiously moved his small command from the vulnerable Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island to Fort Sumter, a substantial fortress built on an island controlling the entrance of Charleston Harbor. An attempt by U.S. President James Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Anderson using the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West failed when it was fired upon by shore batteries on January 9, 1861. The ship was hit three times, which caused no major damage but nonetheless kept the supplies from reaching Anderson. South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area except for Fort Sumter.
During the early months of 1861, the situation around Fort Sumter increasingly began to resemble a siege. In March, Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard , the first general officer of the newly formed Confederate States Army , was placed in command of Confederate forces in Charleston. Beauregard energetically directed the strengthening of batteries around Charleston harbor aimed at Fort Sumter. Conditions in the fort deteriorated due to shortages of men, food, and supplies as the Union soldiers rushed to complete the installation of additional guns.
The resupply of Fort Sumter became the first crisis of the administration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln , inaugurated March 4, 1861, following his victory in the election of November 6, 1860 . He notified the Governor of South Carolina , Francis W. Pickens , that he was sending supply ships, which resulted in an ultimatum from the Confederate government for the immediate evacuation of Fort Sumter, which Major Anderson refused. Beginning at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, the Confederates bombarded the fort from artillery batteries surrounding the harbor. Although the Union garrison returned fire, they were significantly outgunned and, after 34 hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate. There were no deaths on either side as a direct result of this engagement, although a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14 caused the death of two U.S. Army soldiers. The event often regarded as the "First Bloodshed of the Civil War" was the Baltimore riot of 1861 , one week later.
Following the battle, there was widespread support from both North and South for further military action. Lincoln's immediate call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion resulted in an additional four Southern states also declaring their secession and joining the Confederacy. The battle is usually recognized as the first of the American Civil War.
On December 20, 1860, shortly after Abraham Lincoln 's victory in the presidential election of 1860 , South Carolina adopted an ordinance declaring its secession from the United States of America , and by February 1861 six more Southern states had adopted similar ordinances of secession. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at Montgomery , Alabama . A February peace conference met in Washington, D.C. , but failed to resolve the crisis. The remaining eight slave states declined pleas to join the Confederacy. [6] [7]
The seceding states seized Federal properties within their boundaries, including buildings, arsenals, and fortifications. President James Buchanan protested but took no action. Buchanan was concerned that an overt action could cause the remaining slave states to leave the Union, and while he thought that there was no constitutional authority for a state to secede, he could find no constitutional authority for him to act to prevent it. [8] [9]
Several forts had been constructed in Charleston's harbor, including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie , which were not among the sites seized initially. Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island was the oldest—it was the site of fortifications since 1776—and was the headquarters of the U.S. Army garrison. However, it had been designed as a gun platform for defending the harbor, and its defenses against land-based attacks were feeble; during the crisis, the Charleston newspapers commented that sand dunes had piled up against the walls in such a way that the wall could easily be scaled. When the garrison began clearing away the dunes, the papers objected. [10] [11] [12]
Major Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery regiment had been appointed to command the Charleston garrison that fall because of rising tensions. A native of Kentucky, he was a protégé of Winfield Scott , the general in chief of the Army, and was thought more capable of handling a crisis than the garrison's previous commander, Col. John L. Gardner , who was nearing retirement. Anderson had served an earlier tour of duty at Fort Moultrie and his father had been a defender of the fort (then called Fort Sullivan) during the American Revolutionary War . Throughout the fall, South Carolina authorities considered both secession and the expropriation of federal property in the harbor to be inevitable. As tensions mounted, the environment around the fort increasingly resembled a siege , to the point that the South Carolina authorities placed picket ships to observe the movements of the troops and threatened to attack when forty rifles were transferred to one of the harbor forts from the U.S. arsenal in the city. [2] [13] [14] [12]
In contrast to Moultrie, Fort Sumter dominated the entrance to Charleston Harbor and, though unfinished, was designed to be one of the strongest fortresses in the world. In the fall of 1860 work on the fort was nearly completed, but the fortress was thus far garrisoned by a single soldier, who functioned as a lighthouse keeper, and a small party of civilian construction workers. Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter. [15] [16]
South Carolina authorities considered Anderson's move to be a breach of faith. Governor Francis W. Pickens believed that President Buchanan had made implicit promises to him to keep Sumter unoccupied and suffered political embarrassment as a result of his trust in those promises. Buchanan, a former U.S. Secretary of State and diplomat, had used carefully crafted ambiguous language to Pickens, promising that he would not "immediately" occupy it. [17] From Major Anderson's standpoint, he was merely moving his existing garrison troops from one of the locations under his command to another. He had received instructions from the War Department on December 11, written by Major General Don Carlos Buell , Assistant Adjutant General of the Army, approved by Secretary of War John B. Floyd : [17] [18]
[Y]ou are to hold possession of the forts in this harbor, and if attacked you are to defend yourself to the last extremity. The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on or attempt to take possession of any one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar steps whenever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act. [19]
Governor Pickens, therefore, ordered that all remaining Federal positions except Fort Sumter were to be seized. State troops quickly occupied Fort Moultrie (capturing 56 guns), Fort Johnson on James Island , and the battery on Morris Island . On December 27, an assault force of 150 men seized the Union-occupied Castle Pinckney fortification, in the harbor close to downtown Charleston, capturing 24 guns and mortars without bloodshed. On December 30, the Federal arsenal in Charleston was captured, resulting in the acquisition of more than 22,000 weapons by the militia. The Confederates promptly made repairs at Fort Moultrie and dozens of new batteries and defense positions were constructed throughout the Charleston harbor area, including an unusual floating battery , and armed with weapons captured from the arsenal. [N 1]
President Buchanan was surprised and dismayed at Anderson's move to Sumter, unaware of the authorization Anderson had received. Nevertheless, he refused Pickens's demand to evacuate Charleston harbor. Since the garrison's supplies were limited, Buchanan authorized a relief expedition of supplies, small arms, and 200 soldiers. The original intent was to send the Navy sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn , but it was discovered that Confederates had sunk some derelict ships to block the shipping channel into Charleston and there was concern that Brooklyn had too deep a draft to negotiate the obstacles. Instead, it seemed prudent to send an unarmed civilian merchant ship, Star of the West , which might be perceived as less provocative to the Confederates. As Star of the West approached the harbor entrance on January 9, 1861, it was fired upon by a battery on Morris Island, which was staffed by cadets from The Citadel , among them William Stewart Simkins , who were the only trained artillerymen in the service of South Carolina at the time. Batteries from Fort Moultrie joined in and Star of the West was forced to withdraw. Major Anderson prepared his guns at Sumter when he heard the Confederate fire, but the secrecy of the operation had kept him unaware that a relief expedition was in progress and he chose not to start a general engagement. [23] [24] [25] [2]
In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, Governor Pickens demanded of President Buchanan that he surrender Fort Sumter because, "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina." [26]
Conditions at the fort were difficult during the winter of 1860–1861. Rations were short and fuel for heat was limited. The garrison scrambled to complete the defenses as best they could. Fort Sumter was designed to mount 135 guns, operated by 650 officers and men, but construction had met with numerous delays for decades and budget cuts had left it only about 90 percent finished in early 1861. Anderson's garrison consisted of just 85 men, primarily made up of two small artillery companies : Company E, 1st U.S. Artillery , commanded by Capt. Abner Doubleday , and Company H, commanded by Capt. Truman Seymour . There were six other officers present: Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford , First Lt. Theodore Talbot of Company H, First Lt. Jefferson C. Davis of the 1st U.S. Artillery, and Second Lt. Norman J. Hall of Company H. Capt. John G. Foster and First Lt. George W. Snyder of the Corps of Engineers were responsible for the construction of the Charleston forts, but they reported to their headquarters in Washington, not directly to Anderson. The remaining personnel were 68 noncommissioned officers and privates, eight musicians, and 43 noncombatant workmen. [2]
By April the Union troops had positioned 60 guns, but they had insufficient men to operate them all. The fort consisted of three levels of enclosed gun positions, or casemates . The second level of casemates was unoccupied. The majority of the guns were on the first level of casemates, on the upper level (the parapet or barbette positions), and on the center parade field. Unfortunately for the defenders, the original mission of the fort—harbor defense—meant that it was designed so that the guns were primarily aimed at the Atlantic, with little capability of protecting from artillery fire from the surrounding land or from infantry conducting an amphibious assault. [27] [28] [29]
In March, Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard took command of South Carolina forces in Charleston; on March 1, President Jefferson Davis had appointed him the first general officer in the armed forces of the new Confederacy, [30] specifically to take command of the siege. Beauregard made repeated demands that the Union force either surrender or withdraw and took steps to ensure that no supplies from the city were available to the defenders, whose food was running low. He also increased drills amongst the South Carolina militia, training them to operate the guns they manned. Major Anderson had been Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point ; the two had been especially close, and Beauregard had become Anderson's assistant after graduation. Both sides spent March drilling and improving their fortifications to the best of their abilities. [31]
Beauregard, a trained military engineer, built up overwhelming strength to challenge Fort Sumter. Fort Moultrie had three 8-inch Columbiads , two 8-inch howitzers , five 32-pound smoothbores , and four 24-pounders. Outside of Moultrie were five 10-inch mortars , two 32-pounders, two 24-pounders, and a 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore. The floating battery next to Fort Moultrie had two 42-pounders and two 32-pounders on a raft protected by iron shielding. Fort Johnson on James Island had one 24-pounder and four 10-inch mortars. At Cummings Point on Morris Island , the Confederates had emplaced seven 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, an English Blakely rifled cannon, and three 8-inch Columbiads, the latter in the so-called Iron Battery, protected by a wooden shield faced with iron bars. About 6,000 men were available to man the artillery and to assault the fort, if necessary, including the local militia, young boys and older men. [32]
On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president. He was almost immediately confronted with the surprise information that Major Anderson was reporting that only six weeks of rations remained at Fort Sumter. A crisis similar to the one at Fort Sumter had emerged at Pensacola, Florida , where Confederates threatened another U.S. fortification— Fort Pickens . Lincoln and his new cabinet struggled with the decisions of whether to reinforce the forts, and how. They were also concerned about whether to take actions that might start open hostilities and which side would be perceived as the aggressor as a result. Similar discussions and concerns were occurring in the Confederacy. [33] [34]
After the formation of the Confederate States of America in early February, there was some debate among the secessionists whether the capture of the fort was rightly a matter for South Carolina or for the newly declared national government in Montgomery, Alabama . South Carolina Governor Pickens was among the states' rights advocates who thought that all property in Charleston harbor had reverted to South Carolina upon that state's secession as an independent commonwealth. This debate ran alongside another discussion about how aggressively the installations—including Forts Sumter and Pickens—should be obtained. President Davis, like his counterpart in Washington, preferred that his side not be seen as the aggressor. Both sides believed that the first side to use force would lose precious political support in the border states, whose allegiance was undetermined; before Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, five states had voted against secession, including Virginia , and Lincoln openly offered to evacuate Fort Sumter if it would guarantee Virginia's loyalty. When asked about that offer, Abraham Lincoln commented, "A state for a fort is no bad business." [35]
The South sent delegations to Washington, D.C., and offered to pay for the Federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with the Confederate agents because he did not consider the Confederacy a legitimate nation and making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government. However, Secretary of State William H. Seward , who wished to give up Sumter for political reasons—as a gesture of good will—engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed. [36]
On April 4, as the supply situation on Sumter became critical, President Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, to be commanded by a former naval captain (and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy) Gustavus V. Fox , who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of smaller vessels than the Star of the West . Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only, and if he was opposed by the Confederates, to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men. This time, Maj. Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him. On April 6, Lincoln notified Governor Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, [except] in case of an attack on the fort." [37] [38] [39] [40] [2]
Lincoln's notification had been made to the governor of South Carolina, not the new Confederate government, which Lincoln did not recognize. Pickens consulted with Beauregard, the local Confederate commander. Soon President Davis ordered Beauregard to repeat the demand for Sumter's surrender, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before the relief expedition arrived. The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis's order on April 9. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack "will lose us every friend at the North. You will only strike a hornet's nest. ... Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal." [41]
Beauregard dispatched aides—Col. James Chesnut , Col. James A. Chisholm, and Capt. Stephen D. Lee —to Fort Sumter on April 11 to issue the ultimatum. Anderson refused, although he reportedly commented, "I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days." The aides returned to Charleston and reported this comment to Beauregard. At 1 a.m. on April 12, the aides brought Anderson a message from Beauregard: "If you will state the time which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree in the meantime that you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you." After consulting with his senior officers, Maj. Anderson replied that he would evacuate Sumter by noon, April 15, unless he received new orders from his government or additional supplies. Col. Chesnut considered this reply to be too conditional and wrote a reply, which he handed to Anderson at 3:20 a.m.: "Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said "If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next." [42] [43] [44] [45]
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Lt. Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Capt. George S. James, [46] [47] fired a single 10-inch mortar round from Fort Johnson. (James had offered the first shot to Roger Pryor , a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war.") The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, the floating battery, and Cummings Point. Under orders from Beauregard, the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours. Edmund Ruffin , another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present at the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round, a 64-pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents (including diarist Mary Chesnut ), who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort. [48] [N 2]
Major Anderson held his fire, awaiting daylight. His troops reported for a call at 6 a.m. and then had breakfast. At 7 a.m., Capt. Abner Doubleday fired a shot at the Ironclad Battery at Cummings Point. He missed. Given the available manpower, Anderson could not take advantage of all of his 60 guns. He deliberately avoided using guns that were situated in the fort where casualties were most likely. The fort's best cannons were mounted on the uppermost of its three tiers—the barbette tier—where his troops were most exposed to incoming fire from overhead. The fort had been designed to withstand a naval assault, and naval warships of the time did not mount guns capable of elevating to shoot over the walls of the fort. However, the land-based cannons manned by the Confederates were capable of high-arcing ballistic trajectories and could therefore fire at parts of the fort that would have been out of naval guns' reach. Fort Sumter's garrison could only safely fire the 21 working guns on the lowest level, which themselves, because of the limited elevation allowed by their embrasures , were largely incapable of delivering fire with trajectories high enough to seriously threaten Fort Moultrie. Moreover, although the Federals had moved as many of their supplies to Fort Sumter as they could manage, the fort was quite low on ammunition and was nearly out at the end of the 34-hour bombardment. A more immediate problem was the scarcity of cloth gunpowder cartridges or bags; only 700 were available at the beginning of the battle and workmen sewed frantically to create more, in some cases using socks from Anderson's personal wardrobe. Because of the shortages, Anderson reduced his firing to only six guns: two aimed at Cummings Point, two at Fort Moultrie, and two at the Sullivan's Island batteries. [50] [51]
Ships from Fox's relief expedition began to arrive on April 12. Although Fox himself arrived at 3 a.m. on his steamer Baltic , most of the rest of his fleet was delayed until 6 p.m., and one of the two warships, USS Powhatan , never did arrive. Unbeknownst to Fox, it had been ordered to the relief of Fort Pickens in Florida. As landing craft were sent toward the fort with supplies, the artillery fire deterred them and they pulled back. Fox decided to wait until after dark and for the arrival of his warships. The next day, heavy seas made it difficult to load the small boats with men and supplies and Fox was left with the hope that Anderson and his men could hold out until dark on April 13. [52]
Although Sumter was a masonry fort, there were wooden buildings inside for barracks and officer quarters. The Confederates targeted these with heated shot (cannonballs heated red hot in a furnace), starting fires that could prove more dangerous to the men than explosive artillery shells. At 7 p.m. on April 12, a rain shower extinguished the flames and, at the same time, the Union gunners stopped firing for the night. They slept fitfully, concerned about a potential infantry assault against the fort. During the darkness, the Confederates reduced their fire to four shots each hour. The following morning, the full bombardment resumed and the Confederates continued firing hot shot against the wooden buildings. By noon most of the wooden buildings in the fort and the main gate were on fire. The flames moved toward the main ammunition magazine, where 300 barrels of gunpowder were stored. The Union soldiers frantically tried to move the barrels to safety, but two-thirds were left when Anderson judged it was too dangerous and ordered the magazine doors closed. He ordered the remaining barrels thrown into the sea, but the tide kept floating them back together into groups, some of which were ignited by incoming artillery rounds. He also ordered his crews to redouble their efforts at firing, but the Confederates did the same, firing the hot shots almost exclusively. Many of the Confederate soldiers admired the courage and determination of the Yankees. When the fort had to pause its firing, the Confederates often cheered and applauded after the firing resumed and they shouted epithets at some of the nearby Union ships for failing to come to the fort's aid. [53] [54]
The fort's central flagpole was knocked down at 1 p.m. on April 13, raising doubts among the Confederates about whether the fort was ready to surrender. Col. Louis Wigfall , a former U.S. senator, had been observing the battle and decided that this indicated the fort had had enough punishment. He commandeered a small boat and proceeded from Morris Island, waving a white handkerchief from his sword, dodging incoming rounds from Sullivan's Island. Meeting with Major Anderson, he said, "You have defended your flag nobly, Sir. You have done all that it is possible to do, and General Beauregard wants to stop this fight. On what terms, Major Anderson, will you evacuate this fort?" Anderson was encouraged that Wigfall had said "evacuate," not "surrender." He was low on ammunition, fires were burning out of control, and his men were hungry and exhausted. Satisfied that they had defended their post with honor, enduring over 3,000 Confederate rounds without losing a man, Anderson agreed to a truce at 2:00 p.m. [55] [56]
Fort Sumter raised Wigfall's white handkerchief on its flagpole as Wigfall departed in his small boat back to Morris Island, where he was hailed as a hero. The handkerchief was spotted in Charleston and a delegation of officers representing Beauregard—Stephen D. Lee, Porcher Miles , a former mayor of Charleston, and Roger Pryor—sailed to Sumter, unaware of Wigfall's visit. Anderson was outraged when these officers disavowed Wigfall's authority, telling him that the former senator had not spoken with Beauregard for two days, and he threatened to resume firing. Meanwhile, General Beauregard himself had finally seen the handkerchief and sent a second set of officers, offering essentially the same terms that Wigfall had presented, so the agreement was reinstated. [55] [57] [58]
The Union garrison formally surrendered the fort to Confederate personnel at 2:30 p.m., April 13. No one from either side was killed during the bombardment. During the 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag—Anderson's one condition for withdrawal—a pile of cartridges blew up from a spark, mortally wounding privates Daniel Hough and Edward Galloway , and seriously wounding the other four members of the gun crew; these were the first military fatalities of the war. The salute was stopped at fifty shots. Hough was buried in the Fort Sumter parade ground within two hours after the explosion. Galloway and Private George Fielding were sent to the hospital in Charleston, where Galloway died a few days later; Fielding was released after six weeks. [59] [60] The other wounded men and the remaining Union troops were placed aboard a Confederate steamer, the Isabel , where they spent the night and were transported the next morning to Fox's relief ship Baltic , resting outside the harbor bar. [61]
Steamship Baltic, oft Sandy Hook
Thursday, April 18
Hon. S. Cameron, Sec'y. of War, Washington, D. C.
Sir—Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, until the quarters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge wall seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effects of the heat, four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no provision but pork remaining, I accepted terms of evacuation, offered by Gen. Beauregard, being the same offered by him on the 11th inst., prior to the commencement of hostilities, and marched out of the fort Sunday afternoon, the 14th inst., with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away company and private property, and saluting my flag with fifty guns.
ROBERT ANDERSON
Major First Artillery. [62]
Anderson carried the Fort Sumter Flag with him north, where it became a widely known symbol of the battle and rallying point for supporters of the Union. [63] This inspired Frederic Edwin Church to paint Our Banner in the Sky , described as a "symbolic landscape embodying the stars and stripes." A chromolithograph was then created and sold to benefit the families of Union soldiers. [64]
[Top] A photographic view of the Hot shot Furnace at right shoulder angle and a 10-in. columbard cannon pointing to Charleston; [65] [Bottom] Exterior view of Gorge and Sally Port Ft Sumter April 1861 after its surrender
Views of Ft Sumter; [Bottom] View of right angle
Right angle gorge of Ft Sumter—Sally port at right
View of the Gorge and Sally Port
View of western part of Gorge
[Top] View of gorge and Sally port; [Bottom] Left gorge Angle
View of Left gorge angle Sally Port would be at far left
View of Left flank
Panormanic View of Left shoulder Angle at left with a 2nd Hot Shot furnace and Left face at right; Ft Sumter 1861; flying the Confederate Flag
At Left North west castmates [left angle]; at right can be seen the start of the right angle
The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the first military action of the American Civil War. Following the surrender, Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call for all states to send troops to recapture the forts and preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days. [66] Some Northern states filled their quotas quickly. There were so many volunteers in Ohio that within 16 days they could have met the full call for 75,000 men by themselves. [67] Other governors from border states were undiplomatic in their responses. For example, Gov. Claiborne Jackson wrote, "Not one man will the state of Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade", and Gov. Beriah Magoffin wrote, "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states." [68] The governors of other states still in the Union were equally unsupportive. The call for 75,000 troops triggered four additional slave states to declare their secession from the Union and join the Confederacy. [69] The ensuing war lasted four years, effectively ending in April 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia at New Appomattox Court House . [70]
Charleston Harbor was completely in Confederate hands for almost the entire four-year duration of the war, leaving a hole in the Union naval blockade . Union forces conducted major operations in 1862 and 1863 to capture Charleston, first overland on James Island (the Battle of Secessionville , June 1862), then by naval assault against Fort Sumter (the First Battle of Charleston Harbor , April 1863), then by seizing the Confederate artillery positions on Morris Island (beginning with the Second Battle of Fort Wagner , July 1863, and followed by a siege until September). After pounding Sumter to rubble with artillery fire, a final amphibious operation attempted to occupy it (the Second Battle of Fort Sumter , September 1863), but was repulsed and no further attempts were made. The Confederates evacuated Fort Sumter and Charleston in February 1865 as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman outflanked the city in the Carolinas Campaign . On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after lowering the Fort Sumter Flag in surrender, Robert Anderson (by then a major general , although ill and in retired status) returned to the ruined fort to raise the flag he had lowered in 1861. [71]
Two of the cannons used at Fort Sumter were later presented to Louisiana State University by General William Tecumseh Sherman , who was president of the university before the war began. [72]
The U.S. Post Office Department released the Fort Sumter Centennial issue as the first in the series of five stamps marking the Civil War Centennial on April 12, 1961, at the Charleston post office. [73] The stamp was designed by Charles R. Chickering . It illustrates a seacoast gun from Fort Sumter aimed by an officer in a typical uniform of the time. The background features palmetto leaves akin to bursting shells. The state tree of South Carolina, the palmettos suggest the geopolitical area opening Civil War hostilities. [74] This stamp was produced by an engraving and printed by the rotary process in panes of fifty stamps each. The Postal Department authorized an initial printing of 120 million stamps. [74] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Fort%20Sumter%20%28April%2012%E2%80%9313%2C%201861%29,United%20States%20Army%2C%20beginning%20the%20American%20Civil%20War. |
0 | who surrendered in the battle of fort sumter | Fort Sumter | The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War—a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.
Confederate victory. With supplies nearly exhausted and his troops outnumbered, Union major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to Brig. Gen. P.G.T Beauregard’s Confederate forces. Major Anderson and his men were allowed to strike their colors, fire a 100-gun salute, and board a ship bound for New York, where they were greeted as heroes. Both the North and South immediately called for volunteers to mobilize for war.
By 1861, the country had already experienced decades of short-lived but ultimately failed compromises concerning the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1860—a man who declared “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free”—threatened the culture and economy of southern slave states and served as a catalyst for secession. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, and by February 2, 1861, six more states followed suit. Southern delegates met on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, AL., and established the Confederate States of America, with Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis elected as its provisional president. Confederate militia forces began seizing United States forts and property throughout the south. With a lame-duck president in office, and a controversial president-elect poised to succeed him, the crisis approached a boiling point and exploded at Fort Sumter. | https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter |
0 | who surrendered in the battle of fort sumter | Battle of Fort Sumter | Location, Significance, & Map | Battle of Fort Sumter , (April 12–14, 1861), the opening engagement of the American Civil War , at the entrance to the harbour of Charleston , South Carolina . Although Fort Sumter held no strategic value to the North—it was unfinished and its guns faced the sea rather than Confederate shore batteries—it held enormous value as a symbol of the Union.
The United States Army began building Fort Sumter on an artificial island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor in 1829. The fort was named for Thomas Sumter , a general who had won key victories against the British in the Carolinas during the American Revolution . The fort was still under construction during the last months of Pres. James Buchanan ’s term, when a succession of events occurred that brought the contending regions of the United States to the verge of armed conflict. Soon after the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860, the state of South Carolina called a convention that passed an ordinance of secession (December 20, 1860), and Gov. Francis Pickens sent commissioners to Washington, D.C. , to claim possession of the forts in Charleston Harbor and all other U.S. property in his state.
American Civil War Events
On December 26, 1860, Maj. Robert Anderson , commanding officer of the Federal garrison at Charleston, secretly transferred his two weak companies from Fort Moultrie—which was located on a peninsula on the east side of the harbour and was untenable against a land attack—to Fort Sumter in the mouth of the harbour. Pickens seized the arsenal and other forts around the harbour and began throwing up batteries against Sumter. Meanwhile, his commissioners in Washington requested the recall of the Federal troops from Charleston. Buchanan refused this request. In a message to Congress on December 3, Buchanan had already denied the right of secession, but he asserted that the Constitution gave him no right to attempt coercion. He hoped for compromise, and a committee of Congress considered various proposals for adjustment. A peace conference, called by Virginia , also met in Washington and suggested amendments to the Constitution that would satisfy Southern grievances. Lincoln and the leaders of the Republican Party refused to accept the adjustments that the Southerners demanded. In the meantime, Buchanan sent an unarmed commercial steamer, Star of the West , with supplies and reinforcements to Sumter, but it turned back when it was fired upon in the harbour on January 9, 1861.
Between January 9 and February 1 six other states ( Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana , and Texas ) followed South Carolina’s example. Without attempting negotiation, their governors seized all the forts and arsenals in their respective states except Fort Pickens in the harbour of Pensacola , Florida. Delegates from the seceding states met at Montgomery , Alabama, organized the Confederate States of America , and set up a provisional government with Jefferson Davis as president. Davis’s inauguration took place on February 18. The Confederate government then assumed control of the negotiations about Sumter. Neither Buchanan nor Davis was eager to precipitate a crisis. Buchanan’s fervent desire apparently was to leave the solution of the whole problem to his successor; Davis was chiefly concerned with getting his own administration in working order. He sent Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard , an engineer officer of distinction, to Charleston to complete the defenses of the harbour. The day after Beauregard reached Charleston, Lincoln was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. (March 4).
A difficult problem confronted the new president. Seven slave states had seceded, but eight still remained in the Union. Any attempt at coercion would throw all these states, except Delaware (which practically counted as a Northern state), into the arms of the Confederacy . At this stage neither side wanted war. This was certainly true of the North, where a strong feeling was growing in favour of “letting the erring sisters depart in peace.” The South had assumed a defensive role, that of a newborn country asking only to be left alone. Lincoln’s inaugural speech was really addressed to the slave states still in the Union. To the Confederate states it sounded like a declaration of war, but they sought to avoid the responsibility of striking the first blow.
The South hoped to force Lincoln’s hand over Sumter. Anderson’s position there was daily growing more difficult. He would have gladly evacuated the fort to avert a civil war , but his duty as a soldier compelled him to sit with folded hands while the enemy was completing its preparations. His provisions would be exhausted by mid-April. The Confederate batteries had made such progress that he doubted whether it was still possible to relieve the fort unless possession of the whole harbour were secured, and for that purpose he estimated that 20,000 men would be required. The whole U.S. Army numbered only about 17,000 men, most of whom were scattered in small posts on the Western frontier, whence they could not be hastily withdrawn.
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
Only on March 5 did Lincoln learn that Anderson might be starved into surrender. Gen. Winfield Scott , the president’s chief military adviser, urged evacuation on military grounds. However, Lincoln had pledged himself “to hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the Government.” It would be fatal to the prestige of his administration to start by going back on his word, and evacuation might seem a virtual recognition of the Confederacy. Against the advice of a majority of his cabinet, he determined to send a relief expedition, carrying only food supplies, to Sumter. If the Federal flag should be fired upon, that would constitute a casus belli , and the responsibility for beginning the war would rest on the Confederates.
Although he did not inform Anderson, Lincoln gave Pickens precise information regarding his intention. He must have foreseen the actual event. Through war, the Union could be restored, and the North, which was not agreed on policy, could be united. Pickens promptly informed the Montgomery government, and Davis ordered Beauregard to reduce Sumter. Upon Anderson’s refusal to evacuate, the batteries opened fire at 4:30 am on April 12. The next afternoon Anderson agreed to surrender and evacuated the fort at noon on April 14. When the U.S. troops marched out of the fort, they waved the U.S. flag and carried out a gun salute. On the 50th round of the 100-gun salute, an explosion occurred, causing the only death of the engagement. Pvt. Daniel Hough of the 1st U.S. Artillery regiment was the first of as many as 850,000 Americans who would perish before the cessation of hostilities.
The Confederate leaders’ ready acceptance of Lincoln’s challenge may have been due to a fear that without a collision the ardour of the Southern people, many of whom had opposed secession, might abate. Neither Lincoln nor Davis could have foreseen the dimensions the war would assume. | https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Fort-Sumter |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Where Did the Phrase “Knock on Wood” Come From? | Michael Haegele/Getty Images
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.
Ever scrambled around looking for wood to ensure your luck? We certainly have, because this popular superstition is used frequently. Common superstitions are used daily, but we often overlook the origin and focus on what we should and shouldn’t do to bring good fortune and avoid any possible mishaps.
How did knocking on wood become the go-to action for warding off bad luck and bringing in the good? The origin of phrases can be confusing and exciting. Learn about the knock on wood meaning, and when you’re done, continue the adventure by learning about what “close, but no cigar” really means —we’d love to tell you here but we don’t want to spill the beans and let the cat out of the bag .
“Knock on wood” comes from at least the 19th century, according to sources, but the true origin remains unknown and heavily discussed. Many believe it originated with pagan groups and cultures around the world, such as the Celts, who worshipped and mythologized the trees. These groups believed the trees were home to their various gods and with the touch of wood, a spirit could bring protection. It may also have served as a way to show gratitude that would bring good fortune.
Another theory comes from British folklorist Steve Roud and his book The Lore of the Playground . Roud believes the superstition traces back to Britain with “Tiggy Touchwood”: a game of tag where children who touched a piece of wood were immune and given a form of protection from other players.
It’s safe to say that while the origin story behind the “knock on wood” phenomenon remains unknown, there are many theories that date back thousands of years! Make sure you also read up on why we say “ piqued my interest .”
While pagan groups have dissipated and we all play our own versions of tag, we can still find ourselves looking around for a piece of wood to bring us some good luck. Why do we continuously perform this act? Some habits are just hard to break! If you start a habit at a young age, it can be hard and/or uncomfortable to change your behavior as an adult, even though we are now able to logically understand it, especially when this habit has become second nature.
Not only do we get used to these repeating behaviors, our minds find it easier to knock on wood rather than avoid doing it since it’s an easy task to complete! Another reason why we continue knocking on wood is that we associate it with a moment where it seemed as though it worked. Talked to someone about a job, knocked on wood, and then got the job? That’s a memory that is associated with the act which makes us continue this pattern.
By the looks of it, knocking on wood isn’t going to end anytime soon. With a long history, memories, and repeated behavior, it looks like nature is lending a helping hand to bring in positive energy and fortune, one knock at a time.
Sources:
- History.com : “Why do people knock on wood for luck?’
- Ted-Ed Blog : “Why do we knock on wood?” | https://www.rd.com/article/knock-on-wood-meaning/ |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Why do people knock on wood for luck? | In many cultures, it’s a common superstition for people to knock their knuckles on a piece of wood to bring themselves good fortune or ward off bad luck. Yet while the phrase “knock on wood”—or “touch wood” in Britain—has been part of the vernacular since at the least the 19th century, there seems to be little agreement on how it originated. One common explanation traces the phenomenon to ancient pagan cultures such as the Celts, who believed that spirits and gods resided in trees. Knocking on tree trunks may have served to rouse the spirits and call on their protection, but it could have also been a way of showing gratitude for a stroke of good luck. Yet another theory is that people knocked on wood to chase away evil spirits or prevent them from listening in when they boasted about their luck, thereby preventing a reversal of fortune. Christians, meanwhile, have often linked the practice to the wood of the cross from Christ’s crucifixion.
Other researchers consider knocking on wood a more recent phenomenon. In his book “The Lore of the Playground,” British folklorist Steve Roud traces the practice to a 19th century children’s game called “Tiggy Touchwood,” a type of tag in which players were immune from being caught whenever they touched a piece of wood such as a door or a tree. “Given that the game was concerned with ‘protection,’ and was well known to adults as well as children, it is almost certainly the origin of our modern superstitious practice of saying, ‘Touch wood,’” he argues. “The claim that the latter goes back to when we believed in tree spirits is complete nonsense.”
While the origins of “knock on wood” may never be known for certain, the superstition remains popular around the globe and has even given rise to several local variations. Turkish people often pull on one earlobe and knock on wood twice to ward off a jinx. Italians, meanwhile, say the phrase “touch iron” when trying to avoid tempting fate. | https://www.history.com/news/why-do-people-knock-on-wood-for-luck |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Knocking on wood - Wikipedia | For other uses, see Knock on Wood (disambiguation) .
Knocking on wood (also phrased touching wood ) is an apotropaic tradition of literally touching, tapping, or knocking on wood, or merely stating that one is doing or intending to do so, in order to avoid "tempting fate" after making a favorable prediction or boast, or a declaration concerning one's own death or another unfavorable situation.
A common explanation traces the phenomenon to ancient Celtic peoples , who believed it called on spirits or gods of the trees, [1] [2] while Christians tie the practice to the wood of the cross of crucifixion. [2] A more modern theory from folklore researcher Steve Roud suggests it derives from a form of tag called "Tiggy Touchwood" in which players are safe from being tagged if they are touching wood. [2] The British version of the phrase "touch wood" has been traced back as far as the 17th century. [3]
- In Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Montenegro and Serbia there is also the habit of knocking on wood when saying something positive or affirmative about someone or something and not wanting that to change. Frequently the movement of knocking on nearby wood is followed by da kucnem u drvo / да куцнем у дрво ("I will knock on wood"), or sometimes by da ne ureknem / да не урекнем ("I don't want to jinx it"). [4]
- In Brazil and Portugal , bater na madeira ("knock on wood") is something actually done physically, three knocks are required after giving an example of a bad thing eventually happening. No verbalization is required, just the three knocks on the closest piece or object of wood. In the absence of wood, someone can say bate na madeira , to prevent the bad thing to happen. People do not actually believe knocking three times on a piece of wood will really protect them, but it is a social habit and it is polite to do so to demonstrate that one doesn't want that bad thing one is talking about to actually happen. [ citation needed ] [5]
- In Bulgaria the superstition of "knock on wood" ( чукам на дърво chukam na dǎrvo ) is reserved for protection against the evil, and is not typically used for attracting good luck. Usually people engage in the practice in reaction to bad news, actual or merely imagined. In most cases the nearest wooden object is used (in some areas, however, tables are exempt); if there are no such objects within immediate reach, a common tongue-in-cheek practice is to knock on one's head. Knocking on wood is often followed by lightly pulling one's earlobe with the same hand. Common phrases to accompany the ritual are " God guard us" ( Бог да ни пази Bog da ni pazi ) and "may the Devil not hear" ( да не чуе Дяволът da ne chue Djavolǎt ).
- In Denmark the saying is 7, 9, 13 / syv, ni, tretten (usually accompanied by knocking under a table), as these numbers have traditionally been associated with magic.
- In Egypt , إمسك الخشب emsek el-khashab ("hold the wood") is said when mentioning either good luck one has had in the past or hopes one has for the future. When referring to past good luck the expression is usually used in hopes of the good thing continuing to occur via its spoken acknowledgment, as well as preventing envy . (Citation)
- In old English folklore, "knocking on wood" also referred to when people spoke of secrets – they went into the isolated woods to talk privately and "knocked" on the trees when they were talking to hide their communication from evil spirits who would be unable to hear when they knocked. [ citation needed ] Another version holds that the act of knocking was to perk up the spirits to make them work in the requester's favor. [6] Yet another version holds that a sect of monks who wore large wooden crosses around their necks would tap or "knock" on them to ward away evil.
- In Medieval England knights being sent into battle would visit the wooden effigy of a knight in Southwark Cathedral and touch its nose for luck. The Knight's Tale in The Canterbury Tales begins in Southwark for this reason. The effigy can still be seen in the cathedral to this day.
- In modern day England the expression "touch wood" is more commonly heard than "knock on wood".
- In Georgia , a ხეზე დაკაკუნება kheze daḳaḳuneba ("knocking on wood") is performed when one mentions a bad possibility that could take place in future. Usually the person knocks three times. It is also done when one experiences a bad Omen .
- In Greece the saying χτύπα ξύλο chtýpa xýlo ("knock on wood") is said when hearing someone say something negative in order to prevent it from happening. See
- In Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand , when someone is saying bad things, the one that hears it would knock on wood (or other suitable surface) and knock on their forehead while saying amit-amit or amit-amit jabang bayi (Indonesia), choi or tak cun tak cun (Malaysia).
- In Iran , when one says something good about something or somebody, he or she might knock on wood and say بزنم به تخته چشم نخوره bezan-am be taxteh, cheshm naxoreh ("[I] am knocking on wood to prevent he/she/it from being jinxed "). The evil eye and the concept of being jinxed are common phobias and superstitious beliefs in Iranian culture, and Iranians traditionally believe knocking on wood wards off evil spirits. (Citation)
- In Israel the saying בלי עין הרע b'lí 'áyin hará' ("without the evil eye") is said when someone mentions good things happening to himself or someone else, or even when mentioning a valuable things he owns. This expression is a superstition that is used in the hope that a good thing will continue to occur even after it is mentioned, and as a way to prevent envy ( hasad حسد ) also known as the Evil Eye , as they believe that Envy can harm other people.
- In Italy , tocca ferro ("touch iron") is used, especially after seeing an undertaker or something related to death. [ unreliable source? ] [7]
- In Latin America , it is also tradition to physically knock a wooden object. A variant requires that the object does not have feet ( tocar madera sin patas ), which rules out chairs, tables and beds. [8]
- In Lebanon and Syria the saying دقّ عالخشب duqq ‘al-khashab ("knock on [the] wood") is said when hearing someone say something negative in order to prevent it from happening. It is also largely observed when saying something positive or affirmative about someone or something and not wanting that to change.
- In North Macedonia , "knocking on wood" is a folk belief and people usually do that after someone says something bad to make sure nothing bad happens.
- In Norway the saying is bank i bordet ("knock on the table"), which usually was made of wood.
- In Poland , there is a habit of knocking on (unpainted) wood (which may be preceded by saying odpukać w niemalowane drewno ; stúk vneakráshennŷ drevisínə , or simply odpukać ; —— literally meaning "to knock on unpainted wood.") when saying something negative – to prevent it from happening – or, more rarely, something positive – in order not to "spoil it". In the Czech Republic , this is often accompanied for stronger effect by knocking on one's teeth, a piece of building stone, or metal, reasoning that these (as opposed to wood) survive even fire.
- In Romania , there is also a superstition that one can avoid bad things aforementioned by literally knocking on wood ( Romanian : a bate în lemn ). Wood tables are exempted. One of the possible reasons could be that there is a monastery practice to call people to pray by playing / knocking the simantron . [9]
- In Spain tocar madera and in France toucher du bois ("to touch wood") is something that you say when you want your luck or a good situation to continue, e.g. Ha ido bien toda la semana y, toco madera, seguirá bien el fin de semana ("It's been good all week and, touching wood, the weekend will stay good").
- In Sweden , a common expression is "pepper, pepper, touch wood" ( peppar, peppar, ta i trä ), referring to throwing pepper over one's shoulder and touching a wooden object.
- In Turkey , when someone hears about a bad experience someone else had, he/she may gently pull one earlobe, and knock on a wood twice, which means "God save me from that thing".
- In the United States in the eighteenth century, men used to knock on the wood stock of their muzzle-loading rifles to settle the black powder charge, ensuring the weapon would fire cleanly. [ citation needed ]
- In Vietnam a common expression is "trộm vía". It is said when a speaker wants the good/positive aforementioned thing will continue, especially when saying some good things about a newborn because they believe if they did not say the words, negative things would happen later.
- In Assam in Northeast India as well as in Russia , the expression "thu thu thu" -- the onomatopoeic phrase to represent the sound of spitting -- is used after making a favourable prediction or commenting on an ongoing favourable occurrence in order to deter misfortune befalling these favourable circumstances. Its use is similar to the use of the phrase "touchwood" in Western traditions.
- In Russia and Ukraine , " Постучать по дереву " ("To knock on wood") has the same meaning. [10] There is also an expression " Тфу тфу тфу " (" Tfu Tfu Tfu ") phrase to represent the sound of spitting similar with Assam in Northeast India . The difference, however, is that the person would have to "spit" with his head turned to the left shoulder which represents "spitting away" bad fortune because it is situated on the left (unstable) side of life" [11]
- In South Korea , when you take back what you said, you say, "Grab the wood and do 'tweetweetwee-The sound of spitting-'". This means that in connection with the saying, "Be careful with your words" if you don't want anything bad to happen.
- ^ Ray (2017-05-18). "Why do we knock on wood?" . TED-Ed Blog . Retrieved 2022-08-26 .
- ^ | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocking_on_wood |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Why we knock on wood for luck | Rosemary V. Hathaway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
We believe in the free flow of information
Ever said something like, “I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket” – and then quickly, for luck, rapped your knuckles on a wooden table or doorframe?
Americans accompany this action by saying, “Knock on wood.” In Great Britain, it’s “Touch wood.” They knock on wood in Turkey , too.
As a teacher of folklore – the study of “the expressive culture of everyday life,” as my favorite short definition puts it – I’m often asked why people knock on wood.
The common explanation for knocking on wood claims the ritual is a holdover from Europe’s pagan days, an appeal to tree-dwelling spirits to ward off bad luck or an expression of gratitude for good fortune .
According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable , “traditionally, certain trees, such as the oak, ash, hazel, hawthorn and willow, had a sacred significance and thus protective powers.”
Furthermore, the theory goes, Christian reformers in Europe may have deliberately transformed this heathenish belief into a more acceptable Christian one by introducing the idea that the “wood” in “knock on wood” referred to the wood of the cross of Jesus’ crucifixion.
However, no tangible evidence supports these origin stories.
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the phrase “touch wood” only back to the early 19th century, locating its origins in a British children’s tag game called Tiggy-touch-wood, in which children could make themselves “exempt…from capture [by] touching wood.”
Of course, much folklore is learned informally, by word of mouth or customary behavior. So it’s possible – even likely – that the phrase and the ritual predate its first appearance in print.
I’d wager few, if any, people today think – after saying something that might bring bad luck – “I’d better ask the tree spirits for help!”
Still they knock, to avoid negative consequences.
That puts knocking on wood in a category with other “conversion rituals” like throwing salt over one’s shoulder : actions people perform, almost automatically, to “undo” any bad luck just created.
The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski has a theory about such actions, called the “ anxiety-ritual theory .” It states that the anxiety created by uncertainty leads people to turn to magic and ritual to gain a sense of control.
Knocking on wood may seem trivial, but it is one small way people quell their fears in a life full of anxieties. | https://theconversation.com/why-we-knock-on-wood-for-luck-129864 |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Why do we knock on wood? | Chances are you’ve knocked on wood in the past month. But, really, why? Here’s one origin story:
Knocking on wood is thought to come from the folklore of the ancient Indo-Europeans, or possibly people who predated them, who believed that trees were home to various spirits.
Touching a tree would invoke the protection or blessing of the spirit within.
Somehow, this tradition has survived long after belief in these spirits had faded away.
To learn more about superstitions, watch this TED-Ed Lesson: Where do superstitions come from?
Art credit: TED-Ed/ @jefflebars | https://blog.ed.ted.com/2017/05/18/why-do-we-knock-on-wood/ |
1 | where did knock on wood superstition come from | Knock on wood: 7 common superstitions and the quirky explanations behind them | Have you ever paused in your tracks when a black cat crossed your path, or thrown salt over your shoulder after spilling it?
There's a long list of superstitions many of us follow, but why? It turns out there are explanations.
Trending Videos
SAPD arrests ‘most wanted’ fugitive in sexual assault of 2 teen girls
NOW PLAYING
Pro-choice, woman's rights advocates voice support and endorse Prop A
Criminal charges possible after 2-year-old boy hit by bullet from dropped gun, police say
Shortage of amoxicillin, albuterol forcing pediatricians to prescribe alternatives
🐍 Texas doctor explains what to do if you’re bitten by a snake, how to make your environment safer
Humanitarian centers expect to see surge in asylum seekers once Title 42 expires
In case it’s not enough that breaking a mirror may bring bad luck, that bad luck is said to then persist for seven whole years.
A long, long time ago (think ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks), mirrors were valuable, and (of course) possessed some mystical attributes, according to the Psychic Library.
In Roman times, it was believed that each person’s body would undergo physical regeneration every seven years. Because a mirror reflected the soul, when one was broken, it signified a break in the person’s health and well-being.
There is good news, though. It is said that if you bury the broken pieces of a mirror underground and under the moonlight, you can avoid the bad luck.
You may be surprised to know that black cats are actually thought to bring good luck in England, Ireland and ancient Egypt — so much so that the cats were well-protected from death and injury.
But that doesn’t answer the question of why we believe black cats bring bad luck.
Other parts of Europe, during the Middle Ages, thought of cats as companions of witches, or even witches in disguise. When a black cat would cross your path, it meant the devil was watching you. Apparently, the Pilgrims brought the notion to America, and the association between witches and black cats continues to this day.
This superstition is so legit that the term triskaidekaphobia was coined for those who have a fear of the number 13.
In short, History.com says Western cultures have long associated the number 12 with good and completeness — think 12 days of Christmas, 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 labors of Hercules, to name a few. It has often, in ancient world, been considered a perfect number. So its successor 13 has gotten a bad rap as a sign of bad luck.
To build on that, there are two events that play into the theory that 13 is an unlucky number. Each of those revolve around a 13th guest at ancient events: Judas (who betrayed Jesus) at the Last Supper, and Loki (a Norse god known for being mischievous) at a dinner party in which there was already a perfect balance of 12 gods in attendance.
As one of the more commonly-known superstitions, there seems to be various theories on where this one came from.
In medieval times, ladders were often associated with gallows, which is where people faced death by hanging. If someone walked under a ladder, it was believed that person would eventually face their death by hanging.
A different theory is that, because people were hung at the top of rungs of the ladder, their spirit would reside in the triangle the ladder created as it leaned against the gallows. By walking under it, some assumed a dead body could fall on them, causing injury or death.
And yet another theory suggests that the triangle created by leaning a ladder up against a wall signified the Holy Trinity -- the spirit of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Because walking under it was considered a desecration of God, it would, in turn, invite the devil in, bringing bad luck.
This may have started more as bad form than bad luck.
Salt was quite the expensive commodity in ancient times, so wasting it was frowned upon. It’s believed the “bad luck” was brought about as a way to keep people from wasting it.
OK, but what about the whole throwing-it-over-your-left-shoulder business?
Some believe the devil hangs out over the left side of the body, waiting for an opportunity to pounce, so throwing salt over that shoulder puts it right in his face, stopping him from attacking.
For those familiar with the Bible, another origin of the superstition comes from the famous Last Supper painting, which shows Judas (remember, the guy who betrayed Jesus) having knocked over salt, spilling it all over the table.
Surely we’ve all knocked on wood to ward off bad luck from something we’ve said, right?
This one may date back to ancient pagan times, when people believed spirits lived in trees, and touching or knocking on the tree would protect them from bad luck. Psychic Library says knocking on the wood was also seen as a thank-you gesture to the gods for bringing blessings and good luck.
In Irish folklore, touching trees was a way of thanking leprechauns for good luck.
So apparently, this wasn’t something that came about for the sake of being polite.
Even though many cultures have believed for thousands of years that sneezes expelled evil spirits, it is said that in the sixth century A.D., a fatal plague was spreading through Italy. After severe chronic sneezing, death often quickly followed. Live Science says the pope urged the healthy to pray for the sick and ordered a light-hearted response, which eventually led to “God bless you” when someone sneezed.
There are dozens of other superstitions people follow, and many theories as to where they originated. Are some of them silly? Maybe. But chances are, they’ll be sticking around for years to come.
Graham Media Group 2021 | https://www.ksat.com/features/2020/10/27/knock-on-wood-7-common-superstitions-and-the-quirky-explanations-behind-them/ |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Gus the Fireman | The Official Jerry Mathers Website | Published February 8, 2013 | By Jerry Mathers
What many people don’t know is that the character Gus (Burton Mustin) began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film Detective Story. And, did you know that he spent most of his early working years as an insurance salesman and he also had a degree in Engineering? Burt played Gus the Fireman on our show Leave it to Beaver and he was one of my favorite supporting characters.
Known in the entertainment business for his dependability and versatility, Burt was a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s.
In 1957, he made his first appearance as “Gus the Fireman” on Leave It to Beaver . He continued in the role until 1962 making a total of 15 appearances on our show. In 1960, he made his first guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show as Jud Fletcher. Burt appeared in the role until 1966. He also portrayed “Old Uncle Joe” on two episodes of The Lucy Show in 1967. The following year, Mustin guest starred as “Grandpa Jenson” on Petticoat Junction in three episodes.
During the 1970s, Burt continued with guest roles on Love, American Style , Adam- 12 , and Emergency! . Known for his quick wit and song-and-dance abilities, Mustin was a frequent closing act on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the 1970s. From 1971 to 1976, he had a recurring role as “Justin Quigley” in five episodes of All in the Family
Burt was a very kind and gracious man and I enjoyed working with him very much. On January 28, 1977, he died in Glendale, California at the age of 94. | https://www.jerrymathers.com/tag/gus-the-fireman/ |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Gus the Fireman (Burton Mustin) Happy Birthday! | Published February 8, 2013 | By Jerry Mathers
What many people don’t know is that the character Gus (Burton Mustin) began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film Detective Story. And, did you know that he spent most of his early working years as an insurance salesman and he also had a degree in Engineering? Burt played Gus the Fireman on our show Leave it to Beaver and he was one of my favorite supporting characters.
Known in the entertainment business for his dependability and versatility, Burt was a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s.
In 1957, he made his first appearance as “Gus the Fireman” on Leave It to Beaver . He continued in the role until 1962 making a total of 15 appearances on our show. In 1960, he made his first guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show as Jud Fletcher. Burt appeared in the role until 1966. He also portrayed “Old Uncle Joe” on two episodes of The Lucy Show in 1967. The following year, Mustin guest starred as “Grandpa Jenson” on Petticoat Junction in three episodes.
During the 1970s, Burt continued with guest roles on Love, American Style , Adam- 12 , and Emergency! . Known for his quick wit and song-and-dance abilities, Mustin was a frequent closing act on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the 1970s. From 1971 to 1976, he had a recurring role as “Justin Quigley” in five episodes of All in the Family
Burt was a very kind and gracious man and I enjoyed working with him very much. On January 28, 1977, he died in Glendale, California at the age of 94. | http://www.jerrymathers.com/gus-the-fireman-burt-mustin-happy-birthday/ |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Burt Mustin - Wikipedia | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burt Mustin
|Born|
Burton Hill Mustin
February 8, 1884
Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , U.S.
|Died|| January 28, 1977 (aged 92) |
Glendale, California , U.S.
|Resting place||Forest Lawn Memorial Park , Hollywood Hills , California|
|Other names||Bert Mustin|
|Alma mater||Pennsylvania Military College|
|Occupation||Actor|
|Years active||1921–1977|
|Spouse|
Frances Robina Woods
( m. 1915; died 1969)
Burton Hill Mustin (February 8, 1884 [1] [2] – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor . [3] Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared in stage productions.
Mustin began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film noir Detective Story . Known for his dependability and versatility, Mustin went on to establish a career as a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s. [4] His last major role was as Arthur Lanson on the CBS sitcom Phyllis , appearing on the show into 1976, shortly before his death at almost 93 years old.
Mustin was born in Pittsburgh , to William I. and Sadie (Dorrington) Mustin. His father worked as a stockbroker . Mustin graduated from Pennsylvania Military College (renamed Widener University in 1972) with a degree in civil engineering , in 1903. He was first trombone in the band and also played goaltender for their ice hockey team in 1902. He was the last surviving member of his 1903 class. [5] He worked as an engineer but later decided to go into sales. In 1916, Mustin began working as an automobile salesman selling Oakland Sensible Sixes . He later began selling luxury Franklins . After the Franklin company went out of business, he sold Mercurys and Lincolns until civilian car production was halted during World War II . He then worked as a fiscal agent for the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce. [6] [7]
Before he began a professional career in show business, Mustin did amateur acting and performing. In 1921, he became the first announcer for a variety show broadcast on Pittsburgh's then newly established KDKA radio station. He appeared in productions in the Pittsburgh Savoyards (a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe) and the Pittsburgh Opera . He was also a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society , making his first trip to California in 1925 to compete in a quartet competition being held in San Francisco. [4] [6] During this trip the group with their wives made a visit to Hollywood as tourists, but Mustin was not interested in a film career at that point because of his cozy life with his wife in Pittsburgh. They used their Lions Club contacts to secure lodging during the trip.
After retiring, Mustin moved to Tucson, Arizona . Director William Wyler saw him there in a stage production of Detective Story at the Sombrero Playhouse . [8] Wyler told Mustin to look him up if he decided to pursue a screen career. [8] Mustin did contact Wyler, who cast him in the 1951 film version of Detective Story . [8] Mustin's acting career then took off, and he began landing roles in films and television series. He later moved to Los Angeles . [1] [7]
Mustin made his television debut in 1951 with a role in the Western series The Adventures of Kit Carson . In 1953, he played a cotton farmer in A Lion in the Streets starring James Cagney. Almost from the start to the end of his career, Mustin specialized in playing older men, and with his tall scarecrow frame, bald head and beaked nose, he became one of the most familiar and busiest elderly character actors. Throughout the 1950s, he made guest appearances on Leave It to Beaver , The Abbott and Costello Show , The Loretta Young Show , Cavalcade of America , The Public Defender , Treasury Men in Action , The Lone Ranger , Fireside Theater , Tales of the Texas Rangers , Mackenzie's Raiders , Lux Video Theatre , Studio 57 , Dragnet , Our Miss Brooks , It's a Great Life , The Gale Storm Show , General Electric Theater , Peter Gunn , and The Texan , among many others. Mustin also starred in the TV series pilot episode of The Lone Wolf starring Louis Hayward in 1954.
In 1960, Mustin guest starred on The Twilight Zone in the episode " The Night of the Meek " alongside Art Carney . He also appeared in a second episode of the series Kick the Can in 1962. In 1964, he had an uncredited role in The Outer Limits episode " The Guests ".
In addition to guest-starring roles, Mustin also had recurring roles on several television shows during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, he played the role of "Foley" in The Great Gildersleeve . From 1957 to 1958, he appeared as Mr. Finley on Date with the Angels . In 1957, he made his first appearance as "Gus the Fireman" on Leave It to Beaver . Mustin would continue in the role until 1962, making a total of 15 appearances on the show. In 1960, he made his first guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show as Judd Fletcher. He appeared in the role until 1966; however in Season 6, Episode 17 (Return of Barney Fife), he is referred to as "ole man Crowley". He also portrayed "Old Uncle Joe" on two episodes of The Lucy Show in 1967. The following year, Mustin guest starred as "Grandpa Jenson" in three episodes of Petticoat Junction .
Known for his quick wit and song-and-dance abilities, Mustin was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the 1970s. [4] From 1971 to 1976, he appeared in five episodes of All in the Family (his first appearance as a night watchman, and an additional four appearances in a recurring role as "Justin Quigley").
In 1971, Mustin co-starred in the sketch comedy show The Funny Side . Hosted by Gene Kelly , the series featured an ensemble cast of five married couples that dealt with various issues through comedy sketches and song-and-dance routines. Mustin was cast opposite Queenie Smith as "the elderly couple". The series debuted on NBC in September 1971 and was canceled in January 1972. [9] Mustin and Smith reprised their roles as "the elderly couple" on a 1972 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in .
Mustin guest starred as Jethroe Collins, a relative of a Jesse James victim, in the "Bobby's Hero" episode of The Brady Bunch during the 1972–73 season.
The next year, Mustin costarred in the television film version of Miracle on 34th Street , starring Sebastian Cabot , and had an uncredited role in the Disney television film Now You See Him, Now You Don't . Mustin's last continuing role was on the television series Phyllis , in which he played the suitor, and later husband, of Sally "Mother" Dexter , a role he played until shortly before his death. [10]
In addition to his extensive work in television, Mustin also appeared in numerous films. He made his film debut at the age of 67 in Detective Story , in 1951. He followed this with roles in Talk About a Stranger (1952), The Sellout (1952), The Silver Whip (1953), Half a Hero (1953), She Couldn't Say No (1954), The Desperate Hours (1955), Man with the Gun (1955), Storm Center (1956), and The Sheepman (1958).
In the 1960s and 1970s, Mustin appeared in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962), Twilight of Honor (1963), What a Way to Go! (1964), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), Sex and the Single Girl (1964), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Cat Ballou (1965) (uncredited as a former gunfighter "Old ... Old ... ?" ), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1965), The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967), Speedway (uncredited) (1968), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The Great Bank Robbery (1969), Hail, Hero! (1969), and Skin Game (1971). In 1974, Mustin portrayed "Uncle Jeff" in the musical film Mame , starring Lucille Ball and Bea Arthur . He also had a small role in Herbie Rides Again , also released in 1974. The next year, he appeared as "Regent Appleby" in The Strongest Man in the World . His final film role came in 1976 in the Western film Baker's Hawk , starring Clint Walker and Burl Ives .
In 2000 TVLand created a series of commercials celebrating the often-seen but little-known-by-name character actors who regularly appeared in their shows, with Mustin being featured in one.
Mustin was one of the 110 original founders of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Lions Club which was established in 1921. He served as one of the presidents and remained active in the club for the remainder of his life. [1]
Mustin married Frances Robina Woods in 1915. The couple remained together for 54 years, until her death in 1969. They had no children. [1]
On January 28, 1977, Mustin died at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California , at the age of 92. [11] Funeral services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California . [12]
|Year||Title||Role||Notes|
|1951||The Last Outpost||Marshal||Uncredited|
|1951||Detective Story||Willie||Uncredited|
|1952||Talk About a Stranger||Mr. Nicely the Jewler||Uncredited|
|1952||The Sellout||Elk M. Ludens|
|1952||Just Across the Street||Ed Simmons|
|1952||The Lusty Men||Jeremiah Watrus|
|1952||She Couldn't Say No||Amos||Uncredited|
|1953||The Silver Whip||Uncle Ben Nunan||Uncredited|
|1953||One Girl's Confession||Gardener|
|1953||Half a Hero||Granddad Radwell||Uncredited|
|1953||Vicki||Hotel Bellboy||Uncredited|
|1953||The Moonlighter||Turnkey||Uncredited|
|1953||A Lion Is in the Streets||Swift||Uncredited|
|1954||Executive Suite||Sam Teal||Uncredited|
|1954||Gypsy Colt||Charlie||Uncredited|
|1954||Witness to Murder||Building Night Watchman at End||Uncredited|
|1954||Silver Lode||Spectator at Oration||Uncredited|
|1954||Cattle Queen of Montana||Dan|
|1954||Day of Triumph||Man in the City||Uncredited|
|1955||Prince of Players||Miner||Uncredited|
|1955||The Desperate Hours||Carl||Uncredited|
|1955||The Return of Jack Slade||Gunsmith||Uncredited|
|1955||Man with the Gun||Hotel Desk Clerk||Uncredited|
|1956||Great Day in the Morning||Doctor||Uncredited|
|1956||Storm Center||Carl||Uncredited|
|1956||Edge of Hell||Mr. Morrison|
|1956||These Wilder Years||Old Man||Uncredited|
|1957||Raintree County||Old gent with "Flash"||Uncredited|
|1958||The Sheepman||Man on Stairs||Uncredited|
|1958||Rally Round the Flag, Boys!||Milton Evans, Town Meeting Chairman||Uncredited|
|1959||The FBI Story||Uncle Fudd Schneider||Uncredited|
|1960||Home from the Hill||Gas station attendant||Uncredited|
|1961||The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn||Old Farmer with Shotgun||Uncredited|
|1961||Snow White and the Three Stooges||Farmer||Uncredited|
|1962||All Fall Down||Second Tramp||Uncredited|
|1962||Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man||Old Soldier||Uncredited|
|1963||Son of Flubber||Bailiff||Uncredited|
|1963||The Thrill of It All||The Fraleigh butler|
|1963||Twilight of Honor||Court Clerk||Uncredited|
|1964||The Misadventures of Merlin Jones||Bailiff||Uncredited|
|1964||What a Way to Go!||Crawleyville Lawyer||Uncredited|
|1964||The Killers||Elderly Man|
|1964||Sex and the Single Girl||Harvey||Uncredited|
|1965||Cat Ballou||Accuser|
|1965||The Cincinnati Kid||Old Man in Pool Hall||Uncredited|
|1966||The Ghost and Mr. Chicken||Mr. Deligondo||Uncredited|
|1967||The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin||Townsman||Uncredited|
|1967||The Reluctant Astronaut||Ned||Uncredited|
|1968||Speedway||Janitor at Coffee Shop||Uncredited|
|1968||The Shakiest Gun in the West||Old Artimus||Uncredited|
|1969||The Witchmaker||Boatman|
|1969||The Great Bank Robbery||Glazier||Uncredited|
|1969||Hail, Hero!||Old Man #2|
|1969||A Time for Dying||Ed|
|1970||Tiger by the Tail||Tom Dugger|
|1971||Skin Game||Liveryman in Fair Shake||Uncredited|
|1972||Now You See Him, Now You Don't||Mr. Reed||Uncredited|
|1974||Herbie Rides Again||Rich Man in Mansion|
|1974||Mame||Uncle Jeff|
|1975||The Strongest Man in the World||Regent Appleby|
|1975||Train Ride to Hollywood||George|
|1976||Baker's Hawk||General||(final film role)|
|Year||Title||Role||Notes|
|1951||The Adventures of Kit Carson||Dave Lowery||Episode: "Fury at Red Gulch"|
|1953||The Stu Erwin Show||Uncle Lucious Erwin||Episode: "In the Shade of the Old Family Tree"|
|1954||Father Knows Best||Old Eddie Gilbert||Episode: "Grandpa Jim's Rejuvenation"|
|1955||The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin||Jameson Penrose||Episode: "The Legacy of Sean O'Hara"|
|1956||Science Fiction Theatre||Mr. Stevenson||Episode: "Brain Unlimited"|
|1957||State Trooper||John Daka||Episode: "Room Service for 321"|
|1957–1958||Date with the Angels||Mr. Finley||5 episodes|
|1957–1962||Leave It to Beaver||Gus the Fireman||15 episodes|
|1958||Maverick||Henry||Episode: "The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick"|
|1958||The Restless Gun||Man Playing Checkers||Episode: "A Pressing Engagement"|
|1959||Cimarron City||Episode 1, Season 1|
|1959||Peter Gunn||Cab driver||Episode: "The Rifle"|
|1959||Tombstone Territory||Lucky Jack Oliver||Episode: "The Black Diamond"|
|1960||General Electric Theater||Burt||Episode: " Adam's Apples "|
|1960||The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis||Jethro R. Wiggins J.P.||Episode: "Here Comes the Groom"|
|1960||The Dennis O'Keefe Show||Grandpa Clayhipple||Episode: "June Thursday"|
|1960||Mr. Lucky||Uncle Billy||Episode: "The Leadville Kid Gang"|
|1960||The Twilight Zone||Bert||Episode: " Night of the Meek "|
|1961||Thriller||The Redcap||Episode: "A Third for Pinochle"|
|1961||My Three Sons||Max||1 episode|
|1961||Peter Gunn||Old Man||Episode: "Down the Drain"|
|1961–1962||Ichabod and Me||Olaf||4 episodes|
|1961–1966||Bonanza||Various characters||4 episodes|
|1961–1966||The Andy Griffith Show||Jud Fletcher||14 episodes|
|1962||Shannon||Mr. Munday||Episode: "The Medal"|
|1962||The Twilight Zone||Old Man in Rest Home||Episode: " Kick the Can "|
|1963||The Alfred Hitchcock Hour|| Mr. Bell |
Jury foreman (uncredited)
| Episode: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale"; |
Episode: "The Star Juror"
|1963||The Dick Van Dyke Show||Mr. Donald Lucas Parker||Episode: " Very Old Shoes, Very Old Rice"|
|1963–1964||The New Phil Silvers Show||Magruder||Episodes: "Who Do Voodoo? Harry Do!" and "Moonlight and Dozes"|
|1964||The Fugitive||Charley||Episode: "Nicest Fella You'd Ever Want to Meet"|
|1965||Hank||Pete||Episode: "Candidate"|
|1965||Get Smart||Agent 8||Episode: "Dear Diary"|
|1966||Batman||Old MacDonald||Episode 48: "The Yegg Foes in Gotham"|
|1966||Bewitched||Various characters||3 episodes|
|1967||Dragnet||Fred Gregory||Episode : "The Bank Examiner Swindle"|
|1967||Monkees||Kimba||Episode : "Monkees Marooned"|
|1967||The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.||Jan Streich||Episode: "The Moulin Ruse Affair"|
|1968||Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.||Mr. Ferguson||Episode: "Gomer Goes Home"|
|1968||Gunsmoke||Uncle Finney||Episode: "Uncle Finney"|
|1968||Dragnet||Charles Augustus William Smith||Episode: "The Senior Citizen"|
|1969||The Good Guys||Kiley||Episode: "A Chimp Named Sam"|
|1969||Dragnet||Calvin Lampe||Episode: "Homicide: DR 22"|
|1970||The Ghost & Mrs. Muir||Mr. Homer||Episode: "Pardon My Ghost"|
|1970–1974||Adam-12||Various characters||5 episodes|
|1971||The Mary Tyler Moore Show||The Old Man||Episode: "Second Story Story"|
|1971||The New Andy Griffith Show||Mr. Ormstead||Episode: "Glen Campbell Visits"|
|1971||All in the Family||Harry Feeney||Episode: "Archie Is Worried About His Job"|
|1971||Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In||Himself + various characters||Season 5, Episode 13|
|1973||Here's Lucy||Mr. Robertson||Episode: "Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty"|
|1973||The Brady Bunch||Jethroe Collins||Episode: "Bobby's Hero"|
|1973||Sanford and Son||Mr. Malloy||Episode: "Home Sweet Home for the Aged"|
|1973–1976||All in the Family||Justin Quigley||4 episodes|
|1974||Rhoda||Sleeping Man||Episode: "The Honeymoon"|
|1974–1976||The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson||Himself||13 episodes|
|1975||Emergency!||Various characters||2 episodes|
|1975||Switch||Old man||Episode: "The Deadly Missiles Caper"|
|1976||The Moneychangers||Jack Henderson||Miniseries|
|1976–1977||Phyllis||Arthur Lanson||4 episodes| | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Mustin |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Burt Mustin: This 'Andy Griffith Show' Character Actor Began His Career in His 60s | By Courtney Fox |
Advertisement
Sometimes good character actors are just as memorable as the most prominent leading stars. That was certainly the case for Burt Mustin, who is recognizable for appearing in some of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. Whether you remember him from his days as Gus the Fireman on Leave It to Beaver or Jud Fletcher on The Andy Griffith Show , chances are you know Burt Mustin's face. One of the most interesting things about him though isn't his lengthy resume of TV shows he appeared on over the years. It's the fact that he didn't even appear in front of the camera until he was 67 years old.
Burton Hill Mustin grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, later receiving his degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania Military College's class of 1903. Over the years, he worked as a car salesman and eventually became an agent for the Better Business Bureau. By the time he eventually retired in Tucson, Arizona with his wife Frances, he had occasionally dabbled in acting and singing as a hobby. But that was about it. He was in for a real surprise when director William Wyler was in the audience for his stage production of Detective Story. Wyler told Mustin to consider a professional acting career and even cast him in his film version of Detective Story starring Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker. Mustin explained his fascinating life story in a particularly charming interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson .
Just like that, Mustin's life was starting over in his late 60s and he moved to Los Angeles to pursue more acting work in Hollywood. He appeared as the "old man" on pretty much every classic TV series you could think of -- My Three Sons , The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Dragnet , Bonanza , The Twilight Zone , The Red Skelton Hour , Alfred Hitchcock Hour , Love American Style , Bewitched , and more. He had small roles on All In The Family , The Lone Ranger , Petticoat Junction , The Monkees , The Lucy Show , Sanford and Son , Gunsmoke , The Beverly Hillbillies , The Brady Bunch , The Dick Van Dyke Show , The Jack Benny Program , and Get Smart . His IMDB just goes on and on and on.
Advertisement
He appeared in 14 episodes of Andy Griffith , even crossing over into Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. , and Mayberry R.F.D . At the very end of his career, Mustin appeared in a few episodes of Phyllis as Arthur Lanson, the love interest of Mother Dexter. Just a few months later in 1977, Mustin passed away in Glendale, California at the age of 92. Quite a way to end such a legendary career! While you may not have realized his name, you definitely know Burt Mustin's face and should fondly remember him as one of the most iconic character actors of his time. | https://www.wideopencountry.com/burt-mustin/ |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Leave It to Beaver (TV Series 1957–1963) - IMDb | Burt Mustin: Gus the Fireman, Gus Showing all 7 items Jump to: Photos (7) | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050032/characters/nm0615993 |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | At the age of 84, Mayberry regular Burt Mustin made his singing debut with Elvis and a mop | May 6, 2021, 3:13PM By MeTV Staff
Speedway / M-G-M
Share
In 1968, Burt Mustin flew to his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania, for his 65th college reunion. He had a lot to brag about. He technically "retired" and moved away from the Pittsburgh area two decades earlier, but that is when his career truly took off. After being discovered in Arizona, Mustin became an in-demand character actor. He would land recurring roles on two beloved sitcoms, as Gus the fireman on Leave It to Beaver and Jud on The Andy Griffith Show . And these were just two of his roles. Before he hopped on the plane in California, he had just completed work on his 283rd television show.
If only the Pennsylvania Military College Class of 1903 could see him now. Unfortunately, Mustin was the only surviving member of his graduating class.
He was sad to discover he was the only living '03 grad, but he took it in stride. "I've made many friends with other graduates, and it's good to see them," he told the local paper, The Delaware County Daily Times .
Movies and television kept Mustin spry. "I'll never get rich," he admitted to The Pittsburgh Post Gazette upon his reunion, "but every bit of it is a bonus."
Even at his old age, Mustin continued to surprise the people in Hollywood. Even Elvis Presley.
Mustin had recently wrapped on Speedway , a 1968 Elvis flick with Nancy Sinatra. Late in the film, Elvis and Sinatra have a lover's spat in a coffee shop at closing time. Naturally, the lovebirds make up, as Elvis coos a song to his gal. Mustin is the old-timer manning the counter and cleaning up the café.
But the scene needed something else — a funny beat at the end. Someone suggested having Mustin sing. To a mop.
Nobody at the studio had any notion that Mustin could sing. Little did they know, Mustin had spent decades singing in barbershop quartets back when he was a car salesman in Pittsburgh.
"They were so happy they had found an oldtimer who could sing," Mustin told the Daily Times .
Mustin joked to Elvis that he could leave the set for the mop serenade.
"Not on your life," Elvis told Mustin. "I want to see what my competition is going to be."
Mustin easily cruised through his eight bars, nailed singing in the same key as the King. Mustin had been a baritone in barbershop competition for years. Easy peasy.
Even at the age of 84, the actor had plenty of life and work left in him. That same year he appeared in a wonderful episode of Dragnet , playing a deceptively able cat burglar in "The Senior Citizen," and turned up in one of the funniest (yes, funniest) episodes of Gunsmoke , as the title role in "Uncle Finney."
In the Seventies, he stole scenes on All in the Family , and even, at least, got a starring role on a sitcom of his own, The Funny Side . Who says life ends at "retirement"? | https://www.metv.com/stories/at-the-age-of-84-burt-mustin-made-his-singing-debut-with-elvis-and-a-mop |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | Burt Mustin - Rotten Tomatoes | Lowest Rated: 10% Raintree County (1957)
Birthday: Feb 8, 1884
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Prolific character actor Burt Mustin didn't make his screen debut until he was 67 years old. A longtime salesman, Mustin got a taste for the performing arts when he began hosting a radio variety show in his hometown of Pittsburgh in 1921. From there, he tried his hand at theater and became a member of the Pittsburgh Savoyards, a theater troupe known for their Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Though Mustin wasn't much of a singer, he was unquestionably an asset to the group, as his character roles garnered rave reviews. Mustin moved to California in the 1950s and soon made his way into film and television. He quickly became a fixture in both, appearing in nearly 170 productions over the next 25 years. Despite a long list of one-off roles and quirky recurring characters, Mustin is best remembered as Gus the Fireman on the long-running family comedy "Leave It to Beaver." The beloved and diligent character actor made his final onscreen appearance in 1976 in the family-friendly Western "Baker's Hawk." After a career that crossed the United States, took him to stage and screen, and introduced him to countless stars, Burt Mustin died in 1977. He was 92 years old. | https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/burt_mustin |
2 | who played gus the fireman on leave it to beaver | The Amazing Burt Mustin from Leave It To Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show | Leave it to beaver, The andy griffith show, Andy griffith | Video by
on
·
I remember Burt Mustin best as Gus the Fireman on Leave It To Beaver and as Jud Fletcher on The Andy Griffith Show. Here's the story of how this car salesma...
Why did Milburn Stone leave Gunsmoke for a while?
Famous People Today
Warning: This 1957 Challenge Will Give You Serious Nostalgia
Grey State Ventures
If You Lived Through The 70s You Will Dominate This Challenge!
Grey State Ventures
Are you a history buff?
Women.com
The legendary American Western TV series The Rifleman starred Chuck Connors as widowed rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his young son, Mark McCain. T
Post Fun
Did you know that the actor who played Paulie Walnuts in the sopranos was a real-life gangster? Read on to know more about Tony Sirico and of the many iconic characters to come out of the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos.
A Little Bit Human
There’s No Way You Can Name All These 70s TV Characters Right
Grey State Ventures
Actor. Born Jacob Aaron Gellman in New York City, New York, his father worked in the fur industry, and his mother owned a restaurant. Discovered working in a pharmacy by comedian Milton Berle, he began performing in amateur theater, where he started doing imitations and impersonations. His first appearance in motion... | https://www.pinterest.com/pin/the-amazing-burt-mustin-from-leave-it-to-beaver-and-the-andy-griffith-show-youtube--778630223057578223/ |
3 | when did alcohol become legal in the united states | Prohibition in the United States | For the prohibition of slavery, see Abolitionism in the United States .
3:17
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages . [1] The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and finally ended nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , ratified on January 16, 1919. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment , which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933.
Led by pietistic Protestants , prohibitionists first attempted to end the trade in alcoholic drinks during the 19th century. They aimed to heal what they saw as an ill society beset by alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism , family violence , and saloon -based political corruption . Many communities introduced alcohol bans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and enforcement of these new prohibition laws became a topic of debate. Prohibition supporters, called "drys", presented it as a battle for public morals and health. The movement was taken up by progressives in the Prohibition , Democratic and Republican parties, and gained a national grassroots base through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union . After 1900, it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League . Opposition from the beer industry mobilized "wet" supporters from the wealthy Roman Catholic and German Lutheran communities, but the influence of these groups receded from 1917 following the entry of the U.S. into the First World War against Germany.
The Eighteenth amendment passed in 1919 "with a 68 percent supermajority in the House of Representatives and 76 percent support in the Senate" and was ratified by 46 out of 48 states. [2] Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act , set down the rules for enforcing the federal ban and defined the types of alcoholic beverages that were prohibited. Not all alcohol was banned; for example, religious use of wine was permitted. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, but local laws were stricter in many areas, some states banning possession outright.
Following the ban, criminal gangs gained control of the beer and liquor supply in many cities. By the late 1920s, a new opposition to Prohibition emerged nationwide. Critics attacked the policy as causing crime, lowering local revenues, and imposing "rural" Protestant religious values on "urban" America. [3] The Twenty-first Amendment ended Prohibition, though it continued in some states. To date, this is the only time in American history in which a constitutional amendment was passed for the purpose of repealing another.
Some research indicates that alcohol consumption declined substantially due to Prohibition. [4] [5] Rates of liver cirrhosis , alcoholic psychosis , and infant mortality also declined. [4] [6] [7] Other research indicates that Prohibition did not reduce alcohol consumption in the long term. [8] [9] [10] Prohibition's effect on rates of crime and violence is disputed. [10] [11] [12] Prohibition lost supporters every year it was in action, and lowered government tax revenues at a critical time before and during the Great Depression . [13]
On November 18, 1918, prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, the U.S. Congress passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%. [14] This act, which had been intended to save grain for the war effort, was passed after the armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918. The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30, 1919, with July 1 becoming known as the "Thirsty First". [15] [16]
The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920. [17] [18]
On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act , the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson 's veto . The act established the legal definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them. [19] Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the federal government lacked resources to enforce it.
Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, cirrhosis death rates, admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis, arrests for public drunkenness, and rates of absenteeism. [6] [20] [21] While many state that Prohibition stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread criminal activity , [22] Kenneth D. Rose and Georges-Franck Pinard maintain that there was no increase in crime during the Prohibition era and that such claims are "rooted in the impressionistic rather than the factual." [23] [24] By 1925, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs in New York City alone. [25] Wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime. [26]
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act , legalizing beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) and wine of a similarly low alcohol content. Subsequently on December 5, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. However, United States federal law still prohibits the manufacture of distilled spirits without meeting numerous licensing requirements that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal beverage use. [27]
Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been a contentious topic in America since the colonial period . On March 26, 1636 the legislature of New Somersetshire met at what is now Saco, Maine and adopted a law limiting the sale of "strong liquor or wyne," although carving out exceptions for "lodger[s]" and allowing serving to "laborers on working days for one hower at dinner." [28] In May 1657, the General Court of Massachusetts made the sale of strong liquor "whether known by the name of rum, whisky, wine, brandy, etc." to the Native Americans illegal. [29] [ dubious – discuss ]
In general, informal social controls in the home and community helped maintain the expectation that the abuse of alcohol was unacceptable: "Drunkenness was condemned and punished, but only as an abuse of a God-given gift. Drink itself was not looked upon as culpable, any more than food deserved blame for the sin of gluttony . Excess was a personal indiscretion." [30] When informal controls failed, there were legal options.
Shortly after the United States obtained independence, the Whiskey Rebellion took place in western Pennsylvania in protest of government-imposed taxes on whiskey . Although the taxes were primarily levied to help pay down the newly formed national debt , it also received support from some social reformers, who hoped a " sin tax " would raise public awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol. [31] The whiskey tax was repealed after Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party , which opposed the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton , came to power in 1800. [32]
Benjamin Rush , one of the foremost physicians of the late 18th century, believed in moderation rather than prohibition. In his treatise, "The Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind" (1784), Rush argued that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to physical and psychological health, labeling drunkenness as a disease. [33] Apparently influenced by Rush's widely discussed belief, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association in 1789. Similar associations were formed in Virginia in 1800 and New York in 1808. [34] Within a decade, other temperance groups had formed in eight states, some of them being statewide organizations. The words of Rush and other early temperance reformers served to dichotomize the use of alcohol for men and women. While men enjoyed drinking and often considered it vital to their health, women who began to embrace the ideology of "true motherhood" refrained from the consumption of alcohol. Middle-class women, who were considered the moral authorities of their households, consequently rejected the drinking of alcohol, which they believed to be a threat to the home. [34] In 1830, on average, Americans consumed 1.7 bottles of hard liquor per week, three times the amount consumed in 2010. [22]
The American Temperance Society (ATS), formed in 1826, helped initiate the first temperance movement and served as a foundation for many later groups. By 1835 the ATS had reached 1.5 million members, with women constituting 35% to 60% of its chapters. [35]
The Prohibition movement, also known as the dry crusade, continued in the 1840s, spearheaded by pietistic religious denominations, especially the Methodists . The late 19th century saw the temperance movement broaden its focus from abstinence to include all behavior and institutions related to alcohol consumption. Preachers such as Reverend Mark A. Matthews linked liquor-dispensing saloons with political corruption. [36]
Some successes for the movement were achieved in the 1850s, including the Maine law , adopted in 1851, which banned the manufacture and sale of liquor. Before its repeal in 1856, 12 states followed the example set by Maine in total prohibition. [37] The temperance movement lost strength and was marginalized during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Following the war, social moralists turned to other issues, such as Mormon polygamy and the temperance movement . [38] [39] [40]
The dry crusade was revived by the national Prohibition Party , founded in 1869, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1874. The WCTU advocated the prohibition of alcohol as a method for preventing, through education, abuse from alcoholic husbands. [41] WCTU members believed that if their organization could reach children with its message, it could create a dry sentiment leading to prohibition. Frances Willard , the second president of the WCTU, held that the aims of the organization were to create a "union of women from all denominations, for the purpose of educating the young, forming a better public sentiment, reforming the drinking classes, transforming by the power of Divine grace those who are enslaved by alcohol, and removing the dram-shop from our streets by law". [42] While still denied universal voting privileges, women in the WCTU followed Frances Willard's "Do Everything" doctrine and used temperance as a method of entering into politics and furthering other progressive issues such as prison reform and labor laws . [43]
In 1881 Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution . [44] Arrested over 30 times and fined and jailed on multiple occasions, prohibition activist Carrie Nation attempted to enforce the state's ban on alcohol consumption. [45] She walked into saloons, scolding customers, and used her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Nation recruited ladies into the Carrie Nation Prohibition Group, which she also led. While Nation's vigilante techniques were rare, other activists enforced the dry cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alcohol. [46] Other dry states , especially those in the South , enacted prohibition legislation, as did individual counties within a state.
Court cases also debated the subject of prohibition. While some cases ruled in opposition, the general tendency was toward support. In Mugler v. Kansas (1887), Justice Harlan commented: "We cannot shut out of view the fact, within the knowledge of all, that the public health, the public morals, and the public safety, may be endangered by the general use of intoxicating drinks; nor the fact established by statistics accessible to every one, that the idleness, disorder, pauperism and crime existing in the country, are, in some degree...traceable to this evil." [47] In support of prohibition, Crowley v. Christensen (1890), remarked: "The statistics of every state show a greater amount of crime and misery attributable to the use of ardent spirits obtained at these retail liquor saloons than to any other source." [47]
The proliferation of neighborhood saloons in the post-Civil War era became a phenomenon of an increasingly industrialized, urban workforce. Workingmen's bars were popular social gathering places from the workplace and home life. The brewing industry was actively involved in establishing saloons as a lucrative consumer base in their business chain. Saloons were more often than not linked to a specific brewery, where the saloonkeeper's operation was financed by a brewer and contractually obligated to sell the brewer's product to the exclusion of competing brands. A saloon's business model often included the offer of a free lunch , where the bill of fare commonly consisted of heavily salted food meant to induce thirst and the purchase of drink. [48] During the Progressive Era (1890–1920), hostility toward saloons and their political influence became widespread, with the Anti-Saloon League superseding the Prohibition Party and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union as the most influential advocate of prohibition, after these latter two groups expanded their efforts to support other social reform issues, such as women's suffrage , onto their prohibition platform. [49]
Problems playing this file? See media help .
Prohibition was an important force in state and local politics from the 1840s through the 1930s. Numerous historical studies demonstrated that the political forces involved were ethnoreligious. [50] Prohibition was supported by the dries, primarily pietistic Protestant denominations that included Methodists , Northern Baptists , Southern Baptists , New School Presbyterians , Disciples of Christ , Congregationalists , Quakers , and Scandinavian Lutherans , but also included the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and, to a certain extent, the Latter-day Saints . These religious groups identified saloons as politically corrupt and drinking as a personal sin. Other active organizations included the Women's Church Federation, the Women's Temperance Crusade, and the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction. They were opposed by the wets, primarily liturgical Protestants ( Episcopalians and German Lutherans) and Roman Catholics , who denounced the idea that the government should define morality. [51] Even in the wet stronghold of New York City there was an active prohibition movement, led by Norwegian church groups and African-American labor activists who believed that prohibition would benefit workers, especially African Americans. Tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers generally supported prohibition, believing a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products. [52] A particularly effective operator on the political front was Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League , [53] who made Prohibition a wedge issue and succeeded in getting many pro-prohibition candidates elected. Coming from Ohio, his deep resentment for alcohol started at a young age. He was injured on a farm by a worker who had been drunk. This event transformed Wheeler. Starting low in the ranks, he quickly moved up due to his deep-rooted hatred of alcohol. He later realized to further the movement he would need more public approval, and fast. This was the start of his policy called 'wheelerism' where he used the media to make it seem like the general public was "in on" on a specific issue. Wheeler became known as the "dry boss" because of his influence and power. [54]
Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values emerging in the United States. Given the mass influx of migrants to the urban centers of the United States, many individuals within the prohibition movement associated the crime and morally corrupt behavior of American cities with their large, immigrant populations. Saloons frequented by immigrants in these cities were often frequented by politicians who wanted to obtain the immigrants' votes in exchange for favors such as job offers, legal assistance, and food baskets. Thus, saloons were seen as a breeding ground for political corruption . [55]
Most economists during the early 20th century were in favor of the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition). [56] Simon Patten , one of the leading advocates for prohibition, predicted that prohibition would eventually happen in the United States for competitive and evolutionary reasons. Yale economics professor Irving Fisher , who was a dry, wrote extensively about prohibition, including a paper that made an economic case for prohibition. [57] Fisher is credited with supplying the criteria against which future prohibitions, such as against marijuana , could be measured, in terms of crime, health, and productivity. For example, " Blue Monday " referred to the hangover workers experienced after a weekend of binge drinking , resulting in Mondays being a wasted productive day. [58] But new research has discredited Fisher's research, which was based on uncontrolled experiments; regardless, his $6 billion figure for the annual gains of Prohibition to the United States continues to be cited. [59]
In a backlash to the emerging reality of a changing American demographic, many prohibitionists subscribed to the doctrine of nativism , in which they endorsed the notion that the success of America was a result of its white Anglo-Saxon ancestry. This belief fostered distrust of immigrant communities that fostered saloons and incorporated drinking in their popular culture. [60]
Two other amendments to the Constitution were championed by dry crusaders to help their cause. One was granted in the Sixteenth Amendment (1913), which replaced alcohol taxes that funded the federal government with a federal income tax. [61] The other was women's suffrage, which was granted after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; since women tended to support prohibition, temperance organizations tended to support women's suffrage. [61]
In the presidential election of 1916 , the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson , and the Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes , ignored the prohibition issue, as did both parties' political platforms. Democrats and Republicans had strong wet and dry factions, and the election was expected to be close, with neither candidate wanting to alienate any part of his political base.
When the 65th Congress convened in March 1917, the dries outnumbered the wets by 140 to 64 in the Democratic Party and 138 to 62 among Republicans. [62] With America's declaration of war against Germany in April, German Americans , a major force against prohibition, were sidelined and their protests subsequently ignored. In addition, a new justification for prohibition arose: prohibiting the production of alcoholic beverages would allow more resources—especially grain that would otherwise be used to make alcohol—to be devoted to the war effort. While wartime prohibition was a spark for the movement, [63] World War I ended before nationwide Prohibition was enacted.
A resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment to accomplish nationwide Prohibition was introduced in Congress and passed by both houses in December 1917. By January 16, 1919, the Amendment had been ratified by 36 of the 48 states, making it law. Eventually, only two states— Connecticut and Rhode Island —opted out of ratifying it. [64] [65] On October 28, 1919, Congress passed enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act , to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment when it went into effect in 1920.
Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, when the Volstead Act went into effect. [67] A total of 1,520 Federal Prohibition agents (police) were tasked with enforcement.
Supporters of the Amendment soon became confident that it would not be repealed. One of its creators, Senator Morris Sheppard , joked that "there is as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a humming-bird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail." [68]
At the same time, songs emerged decrying the act. After Edward, Prince of Wales , returned to the United Kingdom following his tour of Canada in 1919, he recounted to his father, King George V , a ditty he had heard at a border town:
Four and twenty Yankees, feeling very dry,
Went across the border to get a drink of rye.
When the rye was opened, the Yanks began to sing,
"God bless America, but God save the King!" [69]
Prohibition became highly controversial among medical professionals because alcohol was widely prescribed by the era's physicians for therapeutic purposes. Congress held hearings on the medicinal value of beer in 1921. Subsequently, physicians across the country lobbied for the repeal of Prohibition as it applied to medicinal liquors. [70] From 1921 to 1930, doctors earned about $40 million for whiskey prescriptions. [71]
While the manufacture, importation, sale, and transport of alcohol was illegal in the United States, Section 29 of the Volstead Act allowed wine and cider to be made from fruit at home, but not beer. Up to 200 gallons of wine and cider per year could be made, and some vineyards grew grapes for home use. The Act did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol. Many people stockpiled wines and liquors for their personal use in the latter part of 1919 before sales of alcoholic beverages became illegal in January 1920.
Since alcohol was legal in neighboring countries, distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or smuggled into the United States illegally. The Detroit River , which forms part of the U.S. border with Canada, was notoriously difficult to control, especially rum-running in Windsor , Canada. When the U.S. government complained to the British that American law was being undermined by officials in Nassau , Bahamas , the head of the British Colonial Office refused to intervene. [72] Winston Churchill believed that Prohibition was "an affront to the whole history of mankind". [73]
Three federal agencies were assigned the task of enforcing the Volstead Act: the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, [74] [75] the U.S. Treasury 's IRS Bureau of Prohibition, [76] [77] and the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Prohibition. [78] [79]
As early as 1925, journalist H. L. Mencken believed that Prohibition was not working. [80] Historian David Oshinsky , summarizing the work of Daniel Okrent , wrote that "Prohibition worked best when directed at its primary target: the working-class poor." [81] Historian Lizabeth Cohen writes: "A rich family could have a cellar-full of liquor and get by, it seemed, but if a poor family had one bottle of home-brew, there would be trouble." [82] Working-class people were inflamed by the fact that their employers could dip into a private cache while they, the employees, could not. [83] Within a week after Prohibition went into effect, small portable stills were on sale throughout the country. [84]
Before the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in January 1920, many of the upper classes stockpiled alcohol for legal home consumption after Prohibition began. They bought the inventories of liquor retailers and wholesalers, emptying out their warehouses, saloons, and club storerooms. President Woodrow Wilson moved his own supply of alcoholic beverages to his Washington residence after his term of office ended. His successor, Warren G. Harding , relocated his own large supply into the White House. [85] [86]
After the Eighteenth Amendment became law, bootlegging became widespread. In the first six months of 1920, the federal government opened 7,291 cases for Volstead Act violations. [87] In the first complete fiscal year of 1921, the number of cases violating the Volstead Act jumped to 29,114 violations and would rise dramatically over the next thirteen years. [88]
Grape juice was not restricted by Prohibition, even though if it was allowed to sit for sixty days it would ferment and turn to wine with a twelve percent alcohol content. Many people took advantage of this as grape juice output quadrupled during the Prohibition era. [89] Vine-Glo was sold for this purpose and included a specific warning telling people how to make wine from it.
To prevent bootleggers from using industrial ethyl alcohol to produce illegal beverages, the federal government ordered the denaturation of industrial alcohols , meaning they must include additives to make them unpalatable or poisonous. In response, bootleggers hired chemists who successfully removed the additives from the alcohol to make it drinkable. As a response, the Treasury Department required manufacturers to add more deadly poisons, including the particularly deadly combination known as methyl alcohol : 4 parts methanol, 2.25 parts pyridine base, and 0.5 parts benzene per 100 parts ethyl alcohol. [90] New York City medical examiners prominently opposed these policies because of the danger to human life. As many as 10,000 people died from drinking denatured alcohol before Prohibition ended. [91] New York City medical examiner Charles Norris believed the government took responsibility for murder when they knew the poison was not deterring consumption and they continued to poison industrial alcohol (which would be used in drinking alcohol) anyway. Norris remarked: "The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol ... [Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible." [91]
1:21
CC
Another lethal substance that was often substituted for alcohol was Sterno , a fuel commonly known as "canned heat." Forcing the substance through a makeshift filter, such as a handkerchief, created a rough liquor substitute; however, the result was poisonous, though not often lethal. [92]
Making alcohol at home was common among some families with wet sympathies during Prohibition. Stores sold grape concentrate with warning labels that listed the steps that should be avoided to prevent the juice from fermenting into wine. Some drugstores sold "medical wine" with around a 22% alcohol content. In order to justify the sale, the wine was given a medicinal taste. [92] Home-distilled hard liquor was called bathtub gin in northern cities, and moonshine in rural areas of Virginia , Kentucky , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , West Virginia and Tennessee . Homebrewing good hard liquor was easier than brewing good beer. [92] Since selling privately distilled alcohol was illegal and bypassed government taxation, law enforcement officers relentlessly pursued manufacturers. [93] In response, bootleggers modified their cars and trucks by enhancing the engines and suspensions to make faster vehicles that, they assumed, would improve their chances of outrunning and escaping agents of the Bureau of Prohibition , commonly called "revenue agents" or "revenuers". These cars became known as "moonshine runners" or " 'shine runners". [94] Shops with wet sympathies were also known to participate in the underground liquor market, by loading their stocks with ingredients for liquors, including bénédictine , vermouth , scotch mash, and even ethyl alcohol ; anyone could purchase these ingredients legally. [95]
In October 1930, just two weeks before the congressional midterm elections, bootlegger George Cassiday —"the man in the green hat"—came forward and told members of Congress how he had bootlegged for ten years. One of the few bootleggers ever to tell his story, Cassiday wrote five front-page articles for The Washington Post , in which he estimated that 80% of congressmen and senators drank. The Democrats in the North were mostly wets, and in the 1932 election , they made major gains. The wets argued that Prohibition was not stopping crime, and was actually causing the creation of large-scale, well-funded, and well-armed criminal syndicates. As Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, especially in urban areas, its repeal was eagerly anticipated. [96] Wets had the organization and the initiative. They pushed the argument that states and localities needed the tax money. President Herbert Hoover proposed a new constitutional amendment that was vague on particulars and satisfied neither side. Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic platform promised repeal of the 18th Amendment. [97] [98]
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, many bootleggers and suppliers with wet sympathies simply moved into the legitimate liquor business. Some crime syndicates moved their efforts into expanding their protection rackets to cover legal liquor sales and other business areas. [99]
Doctors were able to prescribe medicinal alcohol for their patients. After just six months of prohibition, over 15,000 doctors and 57,000 pharmacists received licenses to prescribe or sell medicinal alcohol. According to Gastro Obscura ,
Physicians wrote an estimated 11 million prescriptions a year throughout the 1920s, and Prohibition Commissioner John F. Kramer even cited one doctor who wrote 475 prescriptions for whiskey in one day. It wasn’t tough for people to write—and fill—counterfeit subscriptions at pharmacies, either. Naturally, bootleggers bought prescription forms from crooked doctors and mounted widespread scams. In 1931, 400 pharmacists and 1,000 doctors were caught in a scam where doctors sold signed prescription forms to bootleggers. Just 12 doctors and 13 pharmacists were indicted, and the ones charged faced a one-time $50 fine. Selling alcohol through drugstores became so much of a lucrative open secret that it is name-checked in works such as The Great Gatsby. Historians speculate that Charles R. Walgreen , of Walgreen’s fame, expanded from 20 stores to a staggering 525 during the 1920s thanks to medicinal alcohol sales."— Paula Mejia, "The Lucrative Business of Prescribing Booze During Prohibition"; Gastro Obscura, 2017. [100]
Once Prohibition came into effect, the majority of U.S. citizens obeyed it. [20]
Some states like Maryland and New York refused Prohibition. [101] Enforcement of the law under the Eighteenth Amendment lacked a centralized authority. Clergymen were sometimes called upon to form vigilante groups to assist in the enforcement of Prohibition. [102] Furthermore, American geography contributed to the difficulties in enforcing Prohibition. The varied terrain of valleys, mountains, lakes, and swamps, as well as the extensive seaways, ports, and borders which the United States shared with Canada and Mexico made it exceedingly difficult for Prohibition agents to stop bootleggers given their lack of resources. Ultimately it was recognized with its repeal that the means by which the law was to be enforced were not pragmatic, and in many cases, the legislature did not match the general public opinion. [103]
In Cicero , Illinois, (a suburb of Chicago) the prevalence of ethnic communities who had wet sympathies allowed prominent gang leader Al Capone to operate despite the presence of police. [104]
The Ku Klux Klan talked a great deal about denouncing bootleggers and threatened private vigilante action against known offenders. Despite its large membership in the mid-1920s, it was poorly organized and seldom had an impact. Indeed, the KKK after 1925 helped disparage any enforcement of Prohibition. [105]
Prohibition was a major blow to the alcoholic beverage industry and its repeal was a step toward the amelioration of one sector of the economy. An example of this is the case of St. Louis , one of the most important alcohol producers before prohibition started, which was ready to resume its position in the industry as soon as possible. Its major brewery had "50,000 barrels" of beer ready for distribution from March 22, 1933, and was the first alcohol producer to resupply the market; others soon followed. After repeal, stores obtained liquor licenses and restocked for business. After beer production resumed, thousands of workers found jobs in the industry again. [106]
Prohibition created a black market that competed with the formal economy, which came under pressure when the Great Depression struck in 1929. State governments urgently needed the tax revenue alcohol sales had generated. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 based in part on his promise to end prohibition, which influenced his support for ratifying the Twenty-first Amendment to repeal Prohibition. [107]
Naval Captain William H. Stayton was a prominent figure in the anti-prohibition fight, founding the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment in 1918. The AAPA was the largest of the nearly forty organizations that fought to end Prohibition. [108] Economic urgency played a large part in accelerating the advocacy for repeal. [109] The number of conservatives who pushed for prohibition in the beginning decreased. Many farmers who fought for prohibition now fought for repeal because of the negative effects it had on the agriculture business. [110] Prior to the 1920 implementation of the Volstead Act, approximately 14% of federal, state, and local tax revenues were derived from alcohol commerce. When the Great Depression hit and tax revenues plunged, the governments needed this revenue stream. [111] Millions could be made by taxing beer. There was controversy on whether the repeal should be a state or nationwide decision. [110] On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Volstead Act, known as the Cullen–Harrison Act , allowing the manufacture and sale of 3.2% beer (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines. The Volstead Act previously defined an intoxicating beverage as one with greater than 0.5% alcohol. [19] Upon signing the Cullen–Harrison Act, Roosevelt remarked: "I think this would be a good time for a beer." [112] According to a 2017 study in the journal Public Choice , representatives from traditional beer-producing states, as well as Democratic politicians, were most in favor of the bill, but politicians from many Southern states were most strongly opposed to the legislation. [113]
The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed on December 5, 1933, with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . Despite the efforts of Heber J. Grant , president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the 21 Utah members of the constitutional convention voted unanimously on that day to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, making Utah the 36th state to do so, and putting the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment over the top in needed voting. [114] [115]
In the late 1930s, after its repeal, two fifths of Americans wished to reinstate national Prohibition. [116]
The Twenty-first Amendment does not prevent states from restricting or banning alcohol; instead, it prohibits the "transportation or importation" of alcohol "into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States" "in violation of the laws thereof", thus allowing state and local control of alcohol. [117] There are still numerous dry counties and municipalities in the United States that restrict or prohibit liquor sales. [118]
Additionally, many tribal governments prohibit alcohol on Indian reservations . Federal law also prohibits alcohol on Indian reservations, [119] although this law is currently only enforced when there is a concomitant violation of local tribal liquor laws. [120]
After its repeal, some former supporters openly admitted failure. For example, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , explained his view in a 1932 letter: [121]
When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened, and crime has increased to a level never seen before.
It is not clear whether Prohibition reduced per-capita consumption of alcohol. Some historians claim that alcohol consumption in the United States did not exceed pre-Prohibition levels until the 1960s; [122] others claim that alcohol consumption reached the pre-Prohibition levels several years after its enactment, and has continued to rise. [123] Cirrhosis of the liver, a symptom of alcoholism, declined nearly two-thirds during Prohibition. [124] [125] In the decades after Prohibition, any stigma that had been associated with alcohol consumption was erased; according to a Gallup Poll survey conducted almost every year since 1939, two-thirds of American adults age 18 and older drink alcohol. [126]
Shortly after World War II , a national opinion survey found that "About one-third of the people of the United States favor national prohibition." Upon repeal of national prohibition, 18 states continued prohibition at the state level. The last state, Mississippi, finally ended it in 1966. Almost two-thirds of all states adopted some form of local option which enabled residents in political subdivisions to vote for or against local prohibition. Therefore, despite the repeal of prohibition at the national level, 38% of the nation's population lived in areas with state or local prohibition. [127] : 221
In 2014, a CNN nationwide poll found that 18% of Americans "believed that drinking should be illegal". [128]
Prohibition in the early to mid-20th century was mostly fueled by the Protestant denominations in the Southern United States , a region dominated by socially conservative evangelical Protestantism with a very high Christian church attendance. [129] Generally, Evangelical Protestant denominations encouraged prohibition, while the Mainline Protestant denominations disapproved of its introduction. However, there were exceptions to this, such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (German Confessional Lutherans), which is typically considered to be in scope of evangelical Protestantism. [130] Pietistic churches in the United States (especially Baptist churches, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and others in the evangelical tradition) sought to end drinking and the saloon culture during the Third Party System . Liturgical ("high") churches ( Roman Catholic , Episcopal , German Lutheran and others in the mainline tradition) opposed prohibition laws because they did not want the government to reduce the definition of morality to a narrow standard or to criminalize the common liturgical practice of using wine. [131]
Revivalism during the Second Great Awakening and the Third Great Awakening in the mid-to-late 19th century set the stage for the bond between pietistic Protestantism and prohibition in the United States: "The greater prevalence of revival religion within a population, the greater support for the Prohibition parties within that population." [132] Historian Nancy Koester argued that Prohibition was a "victory for progressives and social gospel activists battling poverty". [133] Prohibition also united progressives and revivalists. [134]
The temperance movement had popularized the belief that alcohol was the major cause of most personal and social problems and prohibition was seen as the solution to the nation's poverty, crime, violence, and other ills. [135] Upon ratification of the amendment, the evangelist Billy Sunday said that "The slums will soon be only a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs." Since alcohol was to be banned and since it was seen as the cause of most, if not all, crimes, some communities sold their jails . [136]
According to a 2010 review of the academic research on Prohibition, "On balance, Prohibition probably reduced per capita alcohol use and alcohol-related harm, but these benefits eroded over time as an organized black market developed and public support for [national prohibition] declined." [10] One study reviewing city-level drunkenness arrests concluded that prohibition had an immediate effect, but no long-term effect. [8] And, yet another study examining "mortality, mental health and crime statistics" found that alcohol consumption fell, at first, to approximately 30 percent of its pre-Prohibition level; but, over the next several years, increased to about 60–70 percent of its pre-prohibition level. [9] The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating beverages, however, it did not outlaw the possession or consumption of alcohol in the United States, which would allow legal loopholes for consumers possessing alcohol. [137]
Research indicates that rates of cirrhosis of the liver declined significantly during Prohibition and increased after Prohibition's repeal. [4] [6] According to the historian Jack S. Blocker, Jr., "death rates from cirrhosis and alcoholism, alcoholic psychosis hospital admissions, and drunkenness arrests all declined steeply during the latter years of the 1910s, when both the cultural and the legal climate were increasingly inhospitable to drink, and in the early years after National Prohibition went into effect." [20] Studies examining the rates of cirrhosis deaths as a proxy for alcohol consumption estimated a decrease in consumption of 10–20%. [138] [139] [140] National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism studies show clear epidemiological evidence that "overall cirrhosis mortality rates declined precipitously with the introduction of Prohibition," despite widespread flouting of the law. [141]
It is difficult to draw conclusions about Prohibition's impact on crime at the national level, as there were no uniform national statistics gathered about crime prior to 1930. [10] It has been argued that organized crime received a major boost from Prohibition. For example, one study found that organized crime in Chicago tripled during Prohibition. [142] Mafia groups and other criminal organizations and gangs had mostly limited their activities to prostitution , gambling , and theft until 1920, when organized "rum-running" or bootlegging emerged in response to Prohibition. [ citation needed ] A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished. [143] Prohibition provided a financial basis for organized crime to flourish. [144] In one study of more than 30 major U.S. cities during the Prohibition years of 1920 and 1921, the number of crimes increased by 24%. Additionally, theft and burglaries increased by 9%, homicides by 13%, assaults and battery rose by 13%, drug addiction by 45%, and police department costs rose by 11.4%. This was largely the result of "black-market violence" and the diversion of law enforcement resources elsewhere. Despite the Prohibition movement's hope that outlawing alcohol would reduce crime, the reality was that the Volstead Act led to higher crime rates than were experienced prior to Prohibition and the establishment of a black market dominated by criminal organizations. [145]
A 2016 NBER paper showed that South Carolina counties that enacted and enforced prohibition had homicide rates increase by about 30 to 60 percent relative to counties that did not enforce prohibition. [11] A 2009 study found an increase in homicides in Chicago during Prohibition. [12] However, some scholars have attributed the crime during the Prohibition era to increased urbanization , rather than to the criminalization of alcohol use. [146] In some cities, such as New York City , crime rates decreased during the Prohibition era. [24] Crime rates overall declined from the period of 1849 to 1951, making crime during the Prohibition period less likely to be attributed to the criminalization of alcohol alone. [24] [ why? ]
Mark H. Moore states that contrary to popular opinion, "violent crime did not increase dramatically during Prohibition" and that organized crime "existed before and after" Prohibition. [4] The historian Kenneth D. Rose corroborates historian John Burnham's assertion that during the 1920s "there is no firm evidence of this supposed upsurge in lawlessness" as "no statistics from this period dealing with crime are of any value whatsoever". [23] California State University, Chico historian Kenneth D. Rose writes: [23]
Opponents of prohibition were fond of claiming that the Great Experiment had created a gangster element that had unleashed a "crime wave" on a hapless America. The WONPR's Mrs. Coffin Van Rensselaer, for instance, insisted in 1932 that "the alarming crime wave, which had been piling up to unprecedented height" was a legacy of prohibition. But prohibition can hardly be held responsible for inventing crime, and while supplying illegal liquor proved to be lucrative, it was only an additional source of income to the more traditional criminal activities of gambling, loan sharking, racketeering, and prostitution. The notion of the prohibition-induced crime wave, despite its popularity during the 1920s, cannot be substantiated with any accuracy, because of the inadequacy of records kept by local police departments.
Along with other economic effects, the enactment and enforcement of Prohibition caused an increase in resource costs. During the 1920s the annual budget of the Bureau of Prohibition went from $4.4 million to $13.4 million. Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard spent an average of $13 million annually on enforcement of prohibition laws. [147] These numbers do not take into account the costs to local and state governments.
According to Harvard University historian Lisa McGirr, Prohibition led to an expansion in the powers of the federal state, as well as helped shape the penal state. [148] According to academic Colin Agur, Prohibition specifically increased the usage of telephone wiretapping by federal agents for evidence collection. [149]
According to Harvard University historian Lisa McGirr, Prohibition had a disproportionately adverse impact on African-Americans, immigrants and poor Whites, as law enforcement used alcohol prohibition against these communities. [148]
A 2021 study in the Journal of Economic History found that counties that adopted Prohibition early subsequently had greater population growth and an increase in farm real estate values. [150]
According to Washington State University , Prohibition had a negative impact on the American economy. Prohibition caused the loss of at least $226 million per annum in tax revenues on liquors alone; supporters of the prohibition expected an increase in the sales of non-alcoholic beverages to replace the money made from alcohol sales, but this did not happen. Furthermore, "Prohibition caused the shutdown of over 200 distilleries, a thousand breweries, and over 170,000 liquor stores". Finally, it is worth noting that "the amount of money used to enforce prohibition started at $6.3 million in 1921 and rose to $13.4 million in 1930, almost double the original amount". [151] A 2015 study estimated that the repeal of Prohibition had a net social benefit of "$432 million per annum in 1934–1937, about 0.33% of gross domestic product. Total benefits of $3.25 billion consist primarily of increased consumer and producer surplus, tax revenues, and reduced criminal violence costs." [152]
When 3.2 percent alcohol beer was legalized in 1933, it created 81,000 jobs within a three-month span. [153]
During the Prohibition era, rates of absenteeism decreased from 10% to 3%. [154] In Michigan, the Ford Motor Company documented "a decrease in absenteeism from 2,620 in April 1918 to 1,628 in May 1918." [21]
As saloons died out, public drinking lost much of its macho connotation, resulting in increased social acceptance of women drinking in the semi-public environment of the speakeasies . This new norm established women as a notable new target demographic for alcohol marketeers, who sought to expand their clientele. [116] Women thus found their way into the bootlegging business, with some discovering that they could make a living by selling alcohol with a minimal likelihood of suspicion by law enforcement. [155] Before prohibition, women who drank publicly in saloons or taverns, especially outside of urban centers like Chicago or New York, were seen as immoral or were likely to be prostitutes. [156]
Heavy drinkers and alcoholics were among the most affected groups during Prohibition. Those who were determined to find liquor could still do so, but those who saw their drinking habits as destructive typically had difficulty in finding the help they sought. Self-help societies had withered away along with the alcohol industry. In 1935 a new self-help group called Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded. [116]
Prohibition also had an effect on the music industry in the United States , specifically with jazz . Speakeasies became very popular, and the Great Depression's migratory effects led to the dispersal of jazz music, from New Orleans going north through Chicago and to New York. This led to the development of different styles in different cities. Due to its popularity in speakeasies and the emergence of advanced recording technology, jazz's popularity skyrocketed. It was also at the forefront of the minimal integration efforts going on at the time, as it united mostly black musicians with mostly white audiences. [157]
Making moonshine was an industry in the American South before and after Prohibition. In the 1950s muscle cars became popular and various roads became known as "Thunder Road" for their use by moonshiners. A popular song was created and the legendary drivers, cars, and routes were depicted on film in Thunder Road . [158] [159] [160] [161]
As a result of Prohibition, the advancements of industrialization within the alcoholic beverage industry were essentially reversed. Large-scale alcohol producers were shut down, for the most part, and some individual citizens took it upon themselves to produce alcohol illegally, essentially reversing the efficiency of mass-producing and retailing alcoholic beverages. Closing the country's manufacturing plants and taverns also resulted in an economic downturn for the industry. While the Eighteenth Amendment did not have this effect on the industry due to its failure to define an "intoxicating" beverage, the Volstead Act 's definition of 0.5% or more alcohol by volume shut down the brewers, who expected to continue to produce beer of moderate strength. [116]
In 1930 the Prohibition Commissioner estimated that in 1919, the year before the Volstead Act became law, the average drinking American spent $17 per year on alcoholic beverages. By 1930, because enforcement diminished the supply, spending had increased to $35 per year (there was no inflation in this period). The result was an illegal alcohol beverage industry that made an average of $3 billion per year in illegal untaxed income. [162]
The Volstead Act specifically allowed individual farmers to make certain wines "on the legal fiction that it was a non-intoxicating fruit-juice for home consumption", [163] and many did so. Enterprising grape farmers produced liquid and semi-solid grape concentrates, often called "wine bricks" or "wine blocks". [164] This demand led California grape growers to increase their land under cultivation by about 700% during the first five years of Prohibition. The grape concentrate was sold with a "warning": "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it will turn into wine". [30]
The Volstead Act allowed the sale of sacramental wine to priests and ministers and allowed rabbis to approve sales of kosher wine to individuals for Sabbath and holiday use at home. Among Jews , four rabbinical groups were approved, which led to some competition for membership, since the supervision of sacramental licenses could be used to secure donations to support a religious institution. There were known abuses in this system, with impostors or unauthorized agents using loopholes to purchase wine. [61] [165]
Prohibition had a notable effect on the alcohol brewing industry in the United States. Wine historians note that Prohibition destroyed what was a fledgling wine industry in the United States. Productive, wine-quality grapevines were replaced by lower-quality vines that grew thicker-skinned grapes, which could be more easily transported. Much of the institutional knowledge was also lost as winemakers either emigrated to other wine-producing countries or left the business altogether. [166] Distilled spirits became more popular during Prohibition. [92] Because their alcohol content was higher than that of fermented wine and beer, spirits were often diluted with non-alcoholic drinks. [92]
- ^ Driving Tennessee's "White Lightnin' Trail" – is it the Real Thunder Road? Archived January 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine ; Jack Neely retraces the infamous bootlegger's route as it becomes an official state tourist attraction by Jack Neely MetroPulse June 30, 2010
- ^ Appalachian Journal: The end of Thunder Road Archived February 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine ; Man known for whiskey cars, moonshine and rare auto parts is selling out by Fred Brown Knoxville News Sentinel February 13, 2007
- ^ E. E. Free (May 1930). "Where America Gets Its Booze: An Interview With Dr. James M. Doran" . Popular Science Monthly . 116 (5): 147. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023 . Retrieved November 7, 2013 .
- ^ "Prohibition: Wine Bricks" . Time . August 17, 1931. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006 . Retrieved May 26, 2013 .
- ^ Kelsey Burnham (April 18, 2010). "Prohibition in Wine Country" . Napa Valley Register . Archived from the original on April 20, 2010 . Retrieved April 18, 2010 .
- ^ Hannah Sprecher. ""Let Them Drink and Forget Our Poverty": Orthodox Rabbis React to Prohibition" (PDF) . American Jewish Archives. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 24, 2021 . Retrieved September 4, 2013 .
- ^ Karen MacNeil . The Wine Bible . pp. 630–631.
- Blocker, Jack S., ed. (2003). Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-57607-833-4 . Archived from the original on January 20, 2023 . Retrieved October 17, 2015 .
- Burns, Ken ; Novick, Lynn (October 2011). Prohibition . PBS. ISBN 978-1-60883-430-3 . OCLC 738476083 . Archived from the original on December 25, 2020 . Retrieved September 8, 2017 .
- Haygood, Atticus G. Close the Saloons: A Plea for Prohibition . 8th ed. Macon, GA: J.W. Burke, 1880.
- Hopkins, Richard J. "The Prohibition and Crime". The North American Review . Volume: 222. Number: 828. September 1925. 40–44.
- Behr, Edward (1996). Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America . New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 1-55970-356-3 .
- Blumenthal, Karen (2011). Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition . New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 1-59643-449-X .
- Burns, Eric (2003). The Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol . Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-214-6 .
- Clark, Norman H. (1976). Deliver Us from Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition . New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-05584-1 .
- Dunn, John M. Prohibition . Detroit: Lucent Books, 2010. [ ISBN missing ]
- Folsom, Burton W. "Tinkerers, Tipplers, and Traitors: Ethnicity and Democratic Reform in Nebraska During the Progressive Era." Pacific Historical Review (1981) 50#1 pp: 53–75 in JSTOR Archived August 18, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- Kahn, Gordon, and Al Hirschfeld. (1932, rev. 2003). The Speakeasies of 1932 . New York: Glenn Young Books. ISBN 1-55783-518-7 .
- Karson, Larry, American Smuggling and British white-collar crime: A historical perspective (PDF) , British Society of Criminology, archived (PDF) from the original on December 10, 2022 , retrieved August 7, 2022 .
- Karson, Lawrence. American Smuggling as White Collar Crime. (New York: Routledge, 2014).
- Kavieff, Paul B. (2001). "The Violent Years: Prohibition and the Detroit Mobs". Fort Lee: Barricade Books Inc. ISBN 1-56980-210-6 .
- Kobler, John (1973). Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition . New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-11209-X .
- Kuhl, Jackson (2008). "Prohibition of Alcohol" . In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). Archived copy . The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage ; Cato Institute . pp. 400–401. ISBN 978-1-4129-6580-4 . Archived from the original on January 9, 2023 . Retrieved April 1, 2022 .
- Lawson, Ellen NicKenzie (2013). Smugglers, Bootleggers, and Scofflaws: Prohibition and New York City . Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-4816-9 .
- Lerner, Michael A. (2007). Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-02432-X .
- McGirr, Lisa (2015). The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State . New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-06695-9 . | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States |
3 | when did alcohol become legal in the united states | Prohibition | Definition, History, Eighteenth Amendment, & Repeal | What led to Prohibition?
How long did Prohibition last?
What were the effects of Prohibition?
How did people get around Prohibition?
How was Prohibition enforced?
Prohibition , legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933 under the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment . Although the temperance movement , which was widely supported, had succeeded in bringing about this legislation, millions of Americans were willing to drink liquor ( distilled spirits ) illegally, which gave rise to bootlegging (the illegal production and sale of liquor) and speakeasies (illegal, secretive drinking establishments), both of which were capitalized upon by organized crime . As a result, the Prohibition era also is remembered as a period of gangsterism , characterized by competition and violent turf battles between criminal gangs.
In the United States an early wave of movements for state and local prohibition arose from the intensive religious revivalism of the 1820s and ’30s, which stimulated movements toward perfectionism in human beings, including temperance and abolitionism . Although an abstinence pledge had been introduced by churches as early as 1800, the earliest temperance organizations seem to have been those founded at Saratoga , New York , in 1808 and in Massachusetts in 1813. The movement spread rapidly under the influence of the churches; by 1833 there were 6,000 local societies in several U.S. states. The precedent for seeking temperance through law was set by a Massachusetts law, passed in 1838 and repealed two years later, which prohibited sales of spirits in less than 15-gallon (55-litre) quantities. The first state prohibition law was passed in Maine in 1846 and ushered in a wave of such state legislation before the American Civil War .
Conceived by Wayne Wheeler, the leader of the Anti-Saloon League , the Eighteenth Amendment passed in both chambers of the U.S. Congress in December 1917 and was ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states in January 1919. Its language called for Congress to pass enforcement legislation, and that was championed by Andrew Volstead, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who engineered passage of the National Prohibition Act (better known as the Volstead Act ) over the veto of Pres. Woodrow Wilson .
Neither the Volstead Act nor the Eighteenth Amendment was enforced with great success. Indeed, entire illegal economies (bootlegging, speakeasies, and distilling operations) flourished. The earliest bootleggers began smuggling foreign-made commercial liquor into the United States from across the Canadian and Mexican borders and along the seacoasts from ships under foreign registry. Their favourite sources of supply were the Bahamas , Cuba , and the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon , off the southern coast of Newfoundland . A favourite rendezvous of the rum-running ships was a point opposite Atlantic City , New Jersey , just outside the three-mile (five-km) limit beyond which the U.S. government lacked jurisdiction. The bootleggers anchored in that area and discharged their loads into high-powered craft that were built to outrace U.S. Coast Guard cutters.
That type of smuggling became riskier and more expensive when the U.S. Coast Guard began halting and searching ships at greater distances from the coast and using fast motor launches of its own. Bootleggers had other major sources of supply, however. Among those were millions of bottles of “medicinal” whiskey that were sold across drugstore counters on real or forged prescriptions. In addition, various American industries were permitted to use denatured alcohol, which had been mixed with noxious chemicals to render it unfit for drinking. Millions of gallons of that were illegally diverted, “washed” of noxious chemicals, mixed with tap water and perhaps a dash of real liquor for flavour, and sold to speakeasies or individual customers. Finally, bootleggers took to bottling their own concoctions of spurious liquor, and by the late 1920s stills making liquor from corn had become major suppliers.
Bootlegging helped lead to the establishment of American organized crime , which persisted long after the repeal of Prohibition. The distribution of liquor was necessarily more complex than other types of criminal activity, and organized gangs eventually arose that could control an entire local chain of bootlegging operations, from concealed distilleries and breweries through storage and transport channels to speakeasies , restaurants, nightclubs, and other retail outlets. Those gangs tried to secure and enlarge territories in which they had a monopoly of distribution. Gradually, the gangs in different cities began to cooperate with each other, and they extended their methods of organizing beyond bootlegging to the narcotics traffic, gambling rackets, prostitution , labour racketeering , loan-sharking, and extortion . The American Mafia crime syndicate arose out of the coordinated activities of Italian bootleggers and other gangsters in New York City in the late 1920s and early ’30s.
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
Johnny Torrio rose to become a rackets boss in Brooklyn , New York , and then relocated to Chicago , where in the early 1920s he expanded the crime empire founded by James (“Big Jim”) Colosimo into big-time bootlegging. Torrio turned over his rackets in 1925 to Al Capone , who became the Prohibition era’s most famous gangster, though other crime czars such as Dion O’Bannion (Capone’s rival in Chicago), Joe Masseria , Meyer Lansky , Lucky Luciano , and Bugsy Siegel were also legendarily infamous. Capone’s wealth in 1927 was estimated at close to $100 million.
In 1929—the year of the stock market crash , which seemingly increased the country’s desire for illegal liquor— Eliot Ness was hired as a special agent of the U.S. Department of Justice to head the Prohibition bureau in Chicago, with the express purpose of investigating and harassing Capone. Because the men whom Ness hired to help him were extremely dedicated and unbribable, they were nicknamed the Untouchables . The public learned of them when big raids on breweries, speakeasies, and other places of outlawry attracted newspaper headlines. The Untouchables’ infiltration of the underworld secured evidence that helped send Capone to prison for income-tax evasion in 1932.
Also in 1932 Warner Brothers released Howard Hawks ’s film Scarface: The Shame of Nation , which was based loosely on Capone’s rise as a crime boss. The previous year the studio had started a craze for gangster films with Mervyn LeRoy ’s Little Caesar (1931) and William Wellman ’s The Public Enemy (1931). The cultural influence of the era proved lasting, with gangster films remaining popular and Ness’s exploits giving rise to the television series The Untouchables (1959–63).
Prohibition had been an important issue during the U.S. presidential election of 1928 , but Herbert Hoover ’s win over Al Smith ensured that what Hoover called an “experiment, noble in motive” would continue. As the Great Depression continued to grind on, however, and it became increasingly clear that the Volstead Act was unenforceable, Prohibition faded as a political issue. In March 1933, shortly after taking office, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act , which amended the Volstead Act and permitted the manufacturing and sale of low-alcohol beer and wines (up to 3.2 percent alcohol by volume). Nine months later, on December 5, 1933, Prohibition was repealed at the federal level with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment (which allowed prohibition to be maintained at the state and local levels, however). | https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933 |
3 | when did alcohol become legal in the united states | 21st amendment is ratified; Prohibition ends | The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment and bringing an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the requisite three-fourths majority of states’ approval. Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier in the day.
The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for national liquor abstinence. Several states outlawed the manufacture or sale of alcohol within their own borders. In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified by the states. Prohibition went into effect the next year, on January 17, 1920.
In the meantime, Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of Prohibition , including the creation of a special Prohibition unit of the Treasury Department. In its first six months, the unit destroyed thousands of illicit stills run by bootleggers. However, federal agents and police did little more than slow the flow of booze, and organized crime flourished in America. Large-scale bootleggers like Al Capone of Chicago built criminal empires out of illegal distribution efforts, and federal and state governments lost billions in tax revenue. In most urban areas, the individual consumption of alcohol was largely tolerated and drinkers gathered at “speakeasies,” the Prohibition-era term for saloons.
Prohibition, failing fully to enforce sobriety and costing billions, rapidly lost popular support in the early 1930s. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and ratified, ending national Prohibition. After the repeal of the 18th Amendment, some states continued Prohibition by maintaining statewide temperance laws. Mississippi , the last dry state in the Union, ended Prohibition in 1966. | https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/prohibition-ends |
3 | when did alcohol become legal in the united states | Prohibition on alcohol (United States) | Prohibition In the United States (1920-1933) was the era during which the United States Constitution outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The term also includes the prohibition of alcohol by state action at different times, and the social-political movement to secure prohibition. Selling, manufacturing, or transporting (including importing and exporting) alcohol were prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment; however, drinking and possession of alcohol were never made illegal.
Many social problems have been attributed to the Prohibition era. A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished. Racketeering flourished when powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies. Stronger liquor surged in popularity because its potency made it more profitable to smuggle. The cost of enforcing prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers. When repeal of prohibition occurred in 1933, following passage of the Twenty-first Amendment, organized crime lost nearly all of its black market alcohol profits in most states (states still had the right to enforce their own laws concerning alcohol consumption), because of competition with low-priced alcohol sales at legal liquor stores. This possibly led organized crime to further expansions into more illicit and socially harmful criminal activities, such as narcotics.
In colonial America, informal social controls in the home and community helped maintain the expectation that the abuse of alcohol was unacceptable. There was a clear consensus that while alcohol was a gift from God , its abuse was caused by the Devil . "Drunkenness was condemned and punished, but only as an abuse of a God-given gift. Drink itself was not looked upon as culpable, any more than food deserved blame for the sin of gluttony. Excess was a personal indiscretion." When informal controls failed, there were always legal ones.
While infractions did occur, the general sobriety of the colonists suggests the effectiveness of their system of informal and formal controls in a population that averaged about three and a half gallons of absolute alcohol per year per person. That rate was dramatically higher than the present rate of consumption.
Explanation were sought by medical men. One suggestion had come from one of the foremost physicians of the late eighteenth century, Dr. Benjamin Rush . In 1784, he argued that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to physical and psychological health (he believed in moderation rather than prohibition). Apparently influenced by Rush's widely discussed belief, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association in 1789. Similar associations were formed in Virginia in 1800 and New York in 1808. Within the next decade, other temperance organizations were formed in eight states, some being statewide organizations.
The prohibition, or "dry," movement began in the 1840s, spearheaded by pietistic religious denominations, especially the Methodists .
Between 1830 and 1840, most temperance organizations began to argue that the only way to prevent drunkenness was to eliminate the consumption of alcohol. The Temperance Society became the Abstinence Society. While it began by advocating the temperate or moderate use of alcohol, the movement now insisted that no one should be permitted to drink any alcohol in any quantity. It did so with religious fervor and increasing stridency.
The prohibition of alcohol by law became a major issue in every political campaign from the national and state level down to those for school board members. In promoting what many prohibitionists saw as their religious duty, they perfected the techniques of pressure politics. Women in the movement even used their children to march, sing, and otherwise exert pressure at polling places. Dressed in white and clutching tiny American flags, the children would await their instruction to appeal to "wets" as they approached the voting booth.
Some successes were registered in the 1850s, including Maine 's total ban on the manufacture and sale of liquor, adopted in 1851. However, the movement soon lost strength. It revived in the 1880s, with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition Party.
The Civil War (1861-1865) had interrupted the temperance movement while Americans were preoccupied with that struggle. Then, after the war, the Women's Christian Temperance Union was founded. The organization did not promote either moderation or temperance, but rather prohibition. One of its methods to achieve that goal was education. It was believed that if it could "get to the children," it could create a dry sentiment leading to prohibition.
In 1881, Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution, with Carry Nation gaining notoriety for enforcing the provision herself by walking into saloons, scolding customers, and using her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. Other activists enforced the cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloon keepers to stop selling alcohol. Many other states, especially in the South, also enacted prohibition, along with many individual counties. Hostility to saloons and their political influence was characteristic of the Progressive Era. Supported by the anti-German mood of World War I , the Anti-Saloon League, working with both major parties, pushed the Constitutional amendment through Congress and the states, taking effect in 1920.
Nationwide prohibition was accomplished by means of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified January 29, 1919) and the Volstead Act (passed October 28, 1919). Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the law. The principal actors in the enactment of Prohibition were members of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the Prohibition Party. It was truly a cooperative effort with "progressives" making up a substantial portion of both major political parties. The main force were pietistic Protestants, who comprised majorities in the Republican party in the North, and the Democratic party in the South. Catholics and Germans were the main opponents; however, World War I swayed public opinion away from Germans and their protests were largely ignored.
The 65th Congress met in 1917 and the Democratic dries outnumbered the wets by 140 to 64 while Republicans dries outnumbered the wets 138 to 62. The 1916 election saw both Democratic incumbent Woodrow Wilson and Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes ignore the Prohibition issue, as was the case with both party's political platforms. Both Democrats and Republicans had strong wet and dry factions and the election was expected to be close, with neither candidate wanting to alienate any part of their political base.
Prohibition also referred to that part of the Temperance movement which wanted to make alcohol illegal. These groups brought about much change even prior to national prohibition. By 1905, three American states had already outlawed alcohol; by 1912, this was up to nine states; and, by 1916, legal prohibition was already in effect in 26 of the 48 states.
Although it was highly controversial, Prohibition was widely supported by diverse groups. Progressives believed that it would improve society and the Ku Klux Klan strongly supported its strict enforcement as generally did women, Southerners, those living in rural areas, and African-Americans.
While the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol was illegal in the U.S., it was not illegal in surrounding countries. Distilleries and breweries in Canada , Mexico , and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or illegally imported to the United States.
Chicago became known as a haven for disobeying Prohibition during the time known as the Roaring Twenties. Many of Chicago's most notorious gangsters, including Al Capone and his enemy Bugs Moran, made millions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales.
The Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed nationwide prohibition, explicitly gives states the right to restrict or ban the purchase or sale of alcohol; this has led to a patchwork of laws, in which alcohol may be legally sold in some but not all towns or counties within a particular state. After the repeal of the national constitutional amendment, some states continued to enforce prohibition laws. Mississippi , which had made alcohol illegal in 1907, was the last state to repeal prohibition, in 1966. There are numerous "dry" counties or towns where no liquor is sold; even though liquor can be brought in for private consumption. It was never illegal to drink liquor in the United States.
On March 23, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law an amendment to the Volstead Act known as the Cullen-Harrison bill allowing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2 percent alcohol by weight) and light wines. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed later in 1933 with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5.
Prohibition had a notable effect on the brewing industry in the United States. When Prohibition ended, only half the breweries that had previously existed reopened. Wine historians also note that Prohibition destroyed what was a fledgling wine industry in the United States. Productive wine-quality grape vines were replaced by lower quality vines growing thicker skinned grapes that could be more easily transported. Much of the institutional knowledge was also lost as wine makers either emigrated to other wine producing countries or left the business altogether.
Despite the efforts of Heber J. Grant and the LDS Church , a Utah convention helped ratify the 21st Amendment While Utah can be considered the deciding 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment and make it law, the day Utah passed the Amendment both Pennsylvania and Ohio passed it as well. All 38 states that decided to hold conventions passed the Amendment, while only 36 states were needed (three fourths of the 48 that existed). So, even if Utah hadn't passed it, it would have become law.
The first beer legally sold in the United States after Prohibition was Utica Club of the F.X. Matt's Brewery in Utica, New York.
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Acker, Caroline Jean, and Sarah W. Tracy. Altering American consciousness: the history of alcohol and drug use in the United States, 1800-2000 . Amherst, Mass: University of Massachusetts Press 2004. ISBN 9781558494251
- Beyer, Mark. Temperance and Prohibition: the movement to pass anti-liquor laws in America. The progressive movement, 1900-1920—efforts to reform America's new industrial society . New York, NY: Rosen Pub. Group 2006. ISBN 9781404201958
- Kyvig, David E. Law, alcohol, and order: perspectives on national prohibition . Contributions in American history, no. 110. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press 1985. ISBN 9780313247552
- Lender, Mark Edward. Dictionary of American temperance biography: from temperance reform to alcohol research, the 1600s to the 1980s . Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press 1984. ISBN 9780313223358
- Lerner, Michael A. Dry Manhattan: prohibition in New York City . Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. 2007. ISBN 9780674024328
- Rumbarger, John J. Profits, power, and prohibition: alcohol reform and the industrializing of America, 1800-1930 . SUNY series in new social studies on alcohol and drugs. Albany: State University of New York Press 1989. ISBN 9780887067839
All links retrieved November 30, 2022. | https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Prohibition_on_alcohol_(United_States) |
3 | when did alcohol become legal in the united states | Research Guides: This Month in Business History: Prohibition Begins | The U.S. has always had an uneasy relationship with alcohol and attempts to curb alcohol started long before the 18th Amendment. In 1826 the first of the temperance societies, American Temperance Society (ATS), formed. While it had some success, it wasn’t until the proliferation of saloons after the Civil War that the temperance movement gained more traction. In 1873 the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded and the temperance movement got its most forceful voice. The histories of the temperance movement and the women’s movement were often linked, which explains why the WCTU originally proposed the ban of alcohol as a method for preventing abuse from alcoholic husbands. The WCTU spent many years building the movement though education and local and state laws, and in 1881 had a big success – Kansas included a ban on alcohol in their state constitution. It is at this time that Carrie Nation came to prominence by attacking saloons with a hatchet. However, saloons still maintained their popularity though that popularity was on the decline during the Progressive Era (1890–1920) when the hostility toward saloons became widespread. The push for prohibition gained momentum, often with women and Protestant congregations leading the way.
World War I came and with it, a temporary prohibition on alcohol production. There was also a pronounced anti-German sentiment pushed by the Anti-Saloon League and since many brewers were German and often the loudest opponents of prohibition, this temporary situation dealt a serious blow to the anti-Prohibition forces. The support for a ban on alcohol grew. On December 18, 1917 a constitutional amendment to prohibit alcohol was proposed in the Senate, and in October 1919 Congress passed the Volstead Act (National Prohibition Act), which was the enabling legislation that set down the rules for enforcing the ban on alcohol and defined the types of alcoholic beverages to be prohibited. The 18th Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919 and the country went dry at midnight on January 17, 1920.
Prior to Prohibition various types of alcohol were produced all over the country. The chart above, which originally ran in my A Chart is Worth a Thousand Words post , shows how widespread production of alcohol was in the U.S., as well as the variety that was produced. (You can see vestiges of the way things were – California was and is, the biggest wine area in the U.S. and Kentucky and Tennessee are where to go for bourbon and whiskey.) Of course alcohol didn’t entirely go away with Prohibition. The wealthy, including many politicians, bought out the inventories of the retailers and wholesalers, and of course there were the bootleggers who also helped keep the supply flowing.
Eventually Prohibition – and the violence surrounding it – wore out its welcome. By 1930 the anti-Prohibition forces had strengthened their hand in Congress and the need for tax revenues at the federal level during the Depression hastened Prohibition’s demise. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Cullen–Harrison Act, an amendment to the Volstead Act, on March 22, 1933, allowing for the production of some beer and wine and on December 5, 1933 the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment, was ratified. Since many places still retained enough knowledge and people that worked in the industry prior to Prohibition, they were able to pick up production relatively easily in 1934, although that was not the case everywhere. New federal rules and regulations were a big barrier to re-entry as were the still simmering anti-alcohol sentiments evidenced in various restrictions that were in place in many communities. The years after Prohibition saw production become less geographically diverse than it had been prior to prohibition. | https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/january/prohibition |
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
README.md exists but content is empty.
- Downloads last month
- 18