Prohibition. Episode 1, Nation of drunkards

Summary

This episode part of a series on the Prohibition deals with the early days of the nation, men drink cider and beer all day long and at nearly every occasion, from barn-raisings and baptisms to fune...

This episode part of a series on the Prohibition deals with the early days of the nation, men drink cider and beer all day long and at nearly every occasion, from barn-raisings and baptisms to funerals and public hangings. But as hard whiskey becomes increasingly affordable and saloons turn more and more drunks into the gutter, America seems to have become a nation of drunkards. Unable to vote, women in Ohio shut down taverns by praying on their doorsteps. In Kansas, Carrie Nation attacks hotel bars with her hatchet, and preachers, progressives, and puritans everywhere join the campaign for temperance. Eventually, they demand a constitutional amendment to rid the country of the scourge of drink. But Americans are about to discover that making Prohibition the law of the land is one thing; enforcing it will be another.

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