Prohibition A Nation of Drunkards (Season 1, Episode 1)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 95 min | Documentary, History

Prohibition

A Nation of Drunkards (Season 1, Episode 1)

TV-PG

TV Episode | 95 min | Documentary, History

The 19th century was a period of growth both for alcoholic beverages and the temperance movement. Washingtonian societies - made up of men who had taken a pledge to forgo all alcoholic beverage - sprang up across the country. Women were ...See moreThe 19th century was a period of growth both for alcoholic beverages and the temperance movement. Washingtonian societies - made up of men who had taken a pledge to forgo all alcoholic beverage - sprang up across the country. Women were often excluded from these groups and so formed their own. The women's crusade of 1873 was essentially a general strike by women who brought business to a halt. Their protest spread to 911 communities in 37 territories. However no laws had been changed and within a few years, saloons were back in business. In 1879, Frances E. Willard became the head of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which she would lead for 19 years.It became a huge social welfare organization with 45 departments dealing with many issues other than temperance. Carrie Nation and her home defenders army started closing saloons in Kansas but it too failed to change laws. By the turn of the 20th century, there were some 300,000 saloons in America. Saloons were not only social centers but places where you could look for jobs or learn to speak English. The Anti-Saloon league was the most successful pressure group in America and the most effective in making alcohol a wedge issue. The brewers fought back but the temperance movement continued to grow, leading to the passing of the 19th Amendment. Written by garykmcd See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
40 cast members

Name	Known for
Peter Coyote Self - Narrator Self - Narrator See fewer	Bitter Moon (1992)
Michael Lerner Self - Historian Self - Historian See fewer	Prohibition (2011)
Daniel Okrent Self - Writer Self - Writer See fewer	Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Pete Hamill Self - Writer Self - Writer See fewer	King of New York (1990)
Catherine Gilbert Murdock Self - Historian Self - Historian See fewer	Prohibition (2011)
Martin Marty Self - Theologian Self - Theologian See fewer	A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (1997)
Noah Feldman Self - Legal Scholar Self - Legal Scholar See fewer	The Loving Story (2011)
Jack Roche Self - Resident of Chicago Self - Resident of Chicago See fewer	Prohibition (2011)
William Leuchtenburg Self - Historian Self - Historian See fewer	The Dust Bowl (2012)
Philip Bosco Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	The Savages (2007)
Patricia Clarkson Eliza Hackett (voice) Eliza Hackett (voice) See fewer	The Station Agent (2003)
Kevin Conway Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Gettysburg (1993)
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Tom Hanks Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Cast Away (2000)
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Josh Lucas Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Amy Madigan Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Field of Dreams (1989)
Carolyn McCormick Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Law & Order (1990)
Campbell Scott Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Big Night (1996)
Frances Sternhagen Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	Misery (1990)
Sam Waterston Reader (voice) Reader (voice) See fewer	The Killing Fields (1984)
John Adams Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	The Flag: Documentary (2015)
Susan B. Anthony Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Crew Women Centennial (2020)
William Jennings Bryan Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Prohibition (1915)
Adolphus Busch Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Josephus Daniels Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	The Spreading Evil (1918)
Neal Dow Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Myron T. Herrick Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Hearst-Selig News Pictorial, No. 84 (1914)
Richmond P. Hobson Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Hobson and Crew of the Merrimac (1898)
Mary Hunt Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Carrie Nation Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Big Brother: Number Two (1998)
Boies Penrose Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Pathé News, No. 47 (1916)
Howard Hyde Russell Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Morris Sheppard Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Selig-Tribune, No. 4 (1916)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Eliza Jane Thompson Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Frances Willard Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Woodrow Wilson Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	The Birth of a Nation (1915)