American Temperance Society 3135171 200382491 2008-03-23T21:40:04Z 67.190.229.175 {{Cleanup|date=October 2007}} The '''American Temperance Society''' was established in Boston 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 beverage]]s. 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. After a while, temperance groups increasingly pressed for the mandatory [[prohibition]] of alcohol rather than for voluntary [[abstinence]]. The American Temperance Society (ATS) was the first U.S. social movement organization to mobilize massive and national support for a specific reform cause. Within three years of its organization, ATS had spread across the country. ==Sources== *[http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1124913901.html History of Anti-Alcohol Movements in the U.S.] *[http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1091124904.html National Prohibition of Alcohol in the U.S.] *[http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:Ou2iary1XU8J:xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/every/life.htm+%22American+Temperance+Society%22&hl=en University of Virginia] *[http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:ESztHIG1iUgJ:www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/amezion/case3.htm+%22American+Temperance+Society%22&hl=en Temperance (Wesleyan University)] *Young, Michael P. (2007). ''Bearing Witness against Sin: The Evangelical Birth of the American Social Movement''. University of Chicago Press [[Category:Temperance movement|American Temperance Society]] [[Category:Temperance organizations|American Temperance Society]] [[Category:1826 establishments]] <gallery> <!-- Deleted image removed: Image:ATS 1827.jpg|Auxiliaries to the American Temperance Society added in 1827 --> <!-- Deleted image removed: Image:ATS 1828.jpg|Auxiliaries to the American Temperance Society added in 1828 --> <!-- Deleted image removed: Image:ATS 1829.jpg|Auxiliaries to the American Temperance Society added in 1829 --> </gallery>