Saloons
Saloons,
a public place where alcohol can be bought and drunk, were
highly blamed for the overconsumption of alcohol. The majority of men spent
vast amounts of their already small wages at the saloons and often came home
drunk, leading to urban violence. Consequently, women began to despise the saloons,
ultimately leading to their rise against them. Groups such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union
(WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League(ASL)
emerged in the hopes of shutting them down. Saloons finally met their match
with the ratification of the 17 Amendment (income tax) in 1913. The
government was no longer dependent on liquor taxes to fund its operations. As a
result, the ASL began relating beer and brewers to Germans, who were the target
of much sentiment due to World War I,
to the public through the media. In 1917, the 18th Amendment prohibited
alcohol and finally put an end to saloons.