American Temperance Society
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The American Temperance Society was established in 1826. Within five years there were 2,220 local chapters in the U.S. with 170,000 members who had taken a pledge to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages. Within ten years there were over 8,000 local groups and more than 1,500,000 members who had taken the pledge. The society benefited from, and contributed to, a reform sentiment in much of the country promoting the abolition of slavery, expanding women’s rights, temperance, and the improvement of society. Possibly because of its association with the abolitionist movement, the Society was most successful in northern states.
With the passage of time temperance groups increasingly pressed for the mandatory prohibition of alcohol rather than for voluntary abstinence.
