To Drink & To Vote: The Campaigns for Prohibition and Women's Suffrage
Background

Prohibition
Although prohibition is one of many distinct interests associated with Progressivism, moves to restrain the use of alcohol actually began in the early 19th century. During the 1820s and 1830s, a wave of religious revivalism swept the country. Because prominent ministers, such as Lyman Beecher of Cincinnati, sought a more perfect society, they promoted temperance (the restraint of alcohol use) and abolition (the banishment of slavery) as two ways of reaching a better world. But as the Civil War approached, slavery became the more important issue to tackle. After the war ended and the 20th century dawned, alcohol use was again a concern.

Those in favor of prohibition, which bans the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages, thought it would protect society from violence, poverty, and moral decay. This desire for prohibition by the drys stemmed from their concern over the increasing urbanization of American society. They believed that most of the drinking happened in urban saloons, and they often blamed working-class and immigrant Americans for the increase in drunkenness. Some employers worried that excessive drinking caused workers to be inefficient, unproductive, and more prone to accidents. Middle-class Christian white women also typically supported prohibition because they believed that drinking prevented men from being good fathers, husbands, and strong Christians.

Three main factors led to the passage of the 18th Amendment on prohibition:

1. The drys launched an impressive marketing and political campaign to promote their interests. The Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893, led a large-scale effort to convince states and then the federal government to pass laws against the manufacture, sale, or transport of liquor. In fact, by January 1920—one month before the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was ratified—prohibition was already in effect in 33 states. Ohio was one of the leading battlegrounds for the prohibition debate.
2. The prohibition campaign occurred during wartime. During World War I, Americans were asked to sacrifice many material goods as well as money. In fact, in 1917, a temporary Wartime Prohibition Act was passed to save grain for food. Because Americans had become accustomed to sacrifice, it was easier for them to agree with the prohibitionists' cause.
3. The advent of World War I increased anti-German sentiment in America. Because German-Americans and German immigrants often owned breweries, and beer drinking was part of the German culture, Americans who were anti-German were eager to support prohibition.

Once the Volstead Act (named after its promoter, Congressman Andrew J. Volstead) was enacted, Americans could not make, sell, or import liquor legally. However, Americans found many ways to obtain it illegally. A new form of criminal emerged—the bootlegger—who often made liquor available secretly in speakeasies. In some cities, bootleggers formed criminal gangs and gained considerable wealth. Al Capone in Chicago was one well-known bootlegger. George Remus, a Cincinnati bootlegger, also gained considerable power and wealth locally.

Because of this increase in crime and the loss of business profits, even the major supporters of prohibition eventually supported its repeal. In February 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to repeal the 18th Amendment. In general, liquor control in the United States became a local issue.

Ohio was one of the leading battlegrounds for the prohibition issue. On the dry side was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which until the early 20th century was the best organized lobbying group in Ohio and the nation. By the first decade of the century, the Anti-Saloon League had taken the lead in campaigning for dry issues. Wayne B. Wheeler, superintendent of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League, became famous for his aggressive skills at lobbying against liquor interests. The League issued more than 24 million books, pamphlets, and leaflets to promote the cause. The biggest supporters of prohibition lived outside the cities; because rural Ohioans were often more conservative and religious, they generally supported temperance.

Urban Ohioans, especially those living in Cincinnati, tended to be against prohibition. Cincinnati was famous for its breweries and beer gardens, many of them owned by German-Americans. Concerned about the growing propaganda of the Anti-Saloon League and the WCTU, Cincinnati brewers formed a Brewers' Exchange to produce propaganda of their own. They began issuing advertisements portraying beer as a healthful, family drink, and drinking as a fundamental personal liberty and right.

Despite the brewers' marketing efforts, Ohio's drys eventually won. From 1914 to 1918, the drys managed to get prohibition on the ballot every year, and in 1918, by a margin of 25,759 votes, the state voted to go dry. As a result, many Ohio breweries and beer gardens began to make and sell near beer, what we call light beer today, which was still legal. Yet, near beer was not enough to keep most of these businesses open.

Suffrage
When the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920, it ended decades of struggle to give women the vote. Written by the prominent suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the amendment was formally proposed in 1878 by A. A. Sargent, a California senator. The resolution declared:

"The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

The simplicity of the amendment's language does not indicate the amount of energy, money, and talent required to make this happen.

The campaign for the ballot began as early as 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others held the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. In the 72 years from Seneca Falls to the passage of the 19th Amendment, suffragists made almost 500 campaigns before state legislatures and 19 before U.S. Congresses. Suffragists won their first victories at the state level. For example, Wyoming granted women limited suffrage when it became a territory in 1869. Colorado passed suffrage legislation in 1893, and Utah and Idaho followed in 1896.

Both supporters and opponents of women's suffrage formed a large number of organizations at the city, state, and national levels. The most prominent suffrage organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed in 1890. Anti-suffrage organizations, such as the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, also emerged.

The United States was not the only country to fight for women's suffrage; for decades, suffragists in Great Britain had been fighting for the vote. Some of these suffragists, such as Emmeline Pankhurst, became so frustrated with the defeat of every major suffrage bill in Parliament that they participated in violent acts and hunger strikes.

Why was the suffrage debate so spirited? Society in the 19th century believed that men and women were fundamentally different and occupied different spheres. Men lived in a public sphere of business and politics, while women remained in the private sphere of family, church, and home. Some historians have called this the "doctrine of separate spheres." Women and men were considered innately different, destined to assume different roles in society. Thus, when feminists argued that women should vote, they were striking at the very foundation of American society. Opponents of suffrage believed that suffrage would threaten the core values of society.

The suffrage movement in Ohio developed slowly even though many prominent leaders—such as Thomas L. Johnson, mayor of Cleveland; Samuel M. Jones, mayor of Toledo; Washington Gladden, pastor of the First Congregationalist Church in Columbus; and John H. Patterson, founder of National Cash Register in Dayton—endorsed women's suffrage during the Progressive era.

Ohio women first organized in April 1850 at the second Women's Rights Convention in Salem, Ohio, where several women's rights resolutions were created. But the Civil War shifted people's interests to abolition. In 1889, Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton from Portage County, Ohio, was elected president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association. She traveled throughout the state and helped organize 15 local suffrage groups, including ones in Dayton and Cincinnati.

On June 11, 1912, many women met at the YMCA in Dayton to secure the suffrage amendment to the Ohio Constitution. During this meeting, Mrs. Oscar F. Davisson, the wife of a prominent lawyer, was elected president of the Woman's Suffrage Party of Montgomery County; she remained in office until 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. While Mrs. Davisson was well respected and active, her efforts at a new Ohio amendment failed. Only 24 of 88 counties approved the Woman's Suffrage Amendment 23. Opposition came not only from liquor and saloon supporters but also from other anti-suffragist women, also known as antis.

Despite this setback, Dayton suffragists continued to be hopeful, partly because the national movement was gaining momentum. In 1918, the 19th Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, appeared before the House of Representatives and passed by a two-thirds majority. Ohio's Representative Louis Gard, however, voted against the bill. Later that year, the amendment failed in the Senate. But on June 4, 1919, on the third try, the amendment passed in the Senate. Later that month, the Ohio Senate also ratified a bill allowing women to vote in presidential elections. But the fight was not over: On June 19, 1920, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not decide on federal amendments.

Finally, on August 18, 1920, woman's suffrage became law with the passage of the 19th Amendment.

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