The impact on women’s rights of the campaign for prohibition
Rural and Urban Political Involvement
Prohibition
WCTU (Womens Christian Temperence Union) 1874
Temperance: belief that alcohol was evil and had no place in the home.
1880, the WCTU had grown to be a national organisation in 24 states and had membership of 27,000 women
They worked on banning alcohol to make the home safer
They organised marches and rallies as well as lobbying the president
membership reached 800,000 by 1920.
Women organised its activities and set out its programme and strategy, which taught them how to organise and gain publicity.
By the 1880s, it had 168,000 members
The fight for prohibition led to women fighting for other issues
South (rural) politics
Some supported the Populist party, which lobbied fairer prices for famers, due to the growing railroad infrastructure
North (urban) politics
Spoke out against the building of railroads
Women often continued charity work. This led to many women being elected to administer public charities. (The north were more forward thinking and liberal)
Lobbying to pass pensions for disabled people and widows
This then gave them experience in influencing local government
Female graduates pioneered the settlement house movement in the late 1880s, establishing some 400 settlement houses in cities