Alcohol: Problems and Solutions

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Puritans To Prohibition

1. The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower before they cast off for the New World. ¹
2. While there wasn't any cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin pie to eat at the first Thanksgiving, there was beer, brandy, gin, and wine to drink. ^1.1

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   • Would You Believe...
   • Cavemen to Columbus
   • Prohibition: Noble Experiment
3. A brewery was one of Harvard College's first construction projects so that a steady supply of beer could be served in the student dining halls. ²
4. The early colonialists made alcohol beverages from, among other things, carrots, tomatoes, onions, beets, celery, squash, corn silk, dandelions, and goldenrod. ³
5. The manufacture of rum became early Colonial New England's largest and most prosperous industry. ⁴
6. Tavern owners enjoyed higher social status than did the clergy during part of the Colonial period. ⁵

7. A traveler through the Delaware Valley in 1753 compiled a list of the drinks he encountered; all but three of the 48 contained alcohol. ⁶
8. The first Kentucky whiskey was made in 1789 by a Baptist minister. ⁷
9. The distillation of whiskey led to the first test of federal power, the Whiskey Rebellion (1794). ⁸
10. During the Colonial period, alcohol abstainers had to pay one life insurance company rates 10% higher than that of drinkers. Of course, today we know that abstainers tend not to live as long as moderate drinkers. ⁹
11. The laws of most American colonies required towns to license suitable persons to sell wine and spirits and failure to do so could result in a fine. ¹⁰
12. Colonial taverns were often required to be located near the church or meetinghouse. ¹¹
13. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson all enjoyed brewing or distilling their own alcohol beverages. ¹²
14. The Colonial Army supplied its troops with a daily ration of four ounces of either rum or whiskey. ¹³
15. Abraham Lincoln held a liquor license and operated several taverns. ¹⁴
16. Religious services and court sessions were often held in the major tavern of Colonial American towns. ¹⁵
17. In the 1830's the average American aged 15 or older consumed over seven gallons of absolute alcohol (resulting from an average of 9 1/2 gallons of spirits, 1/2 gallon of wine, and 27 gallons of beer), a quantity about three times the current rate. ¹⁶
18. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in a tavern in Philadelphia. ¹⁷
19. Every signer of the American Declaration of Independence drank alcoholic beverages. ^17a
20. The first signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock, was an alcohol dealer. ^17b
21. Before he took his famous ride, Paul Revere is reported to have had two drinks of rum. ^17c
22. The patriot Patrick Henry (“Give me liberty or give me death”) was a bar tender. ^17d
23. President Martin Van Buren was born in his father’s tavern. ^17e
24. Alewives in Colonial America brewed a special high proof "groaning ale" for pregnant women to drink during labor. ¹⁸
25. "Root beer" was a temperance product developed in the hope that it would replace beer in popularity.... it did not. ¹⁹

References and Readings