“We confess we were, for some time, among those, who doubted the possibility of effecting much good, through the agency of temperance societies. There was a seeming disproportion between the magnitude of the evil and the insignificance of the means employed to stem it. It was proposed, by the mere dint of reason, on the part of benevolent individuals, unaided by the power of the State, and at first without a very strong co-operation of public sentiment, to enter the field against one of the strongest of the physical appetites, as indulged to a great degree by that class of the community, least accessible, in all respects, to the force of reason and argument. Without allowing sufficiently for the power of the social principle,–without foreseeing the thousand modes in which with a most heavenly ingenuity it has been applied in this blessed cause,–we were too ready to reason from the difficulty of reclaiming the victim of intemperance in single instances to the impossibility of effecting a great comprehensive reform. We confess our error, and make it a duty to atone for it, in the only way in our power, by contributing our mite to second the efforts of the meritorious men, who earlier caught a glimpse of the practicability of this great enterprise of human improvement, and, with untiring industry and enlightened zeal, have pushed it forward to its present most gratifying and auspicious state.
Among the local associations, which have been formed for this work of humanity and love, we believe that it is generally admitted that the New York State Temperance Society has been perhaps the most fortunate in its organization, in its administration, and in its results. Its first annual report was presented to the Society by its Executive Committee in January, 1830; and on the 1st of September of the year just expired, there had been formed, under its auspices, the astonishing number of one thousand one hundred and fifty-eight auxiliary societies, in the State of New York, with one hundred and sixty-one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-one members; being at least one in thirteen of the entire population of that State.”
“The Reports of the American Temperance Society, and of The New York Temperance Society.” The North American Review 36, issue 58 (January 1833). Cornell University Library. http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;view=toc;subview=short;idno=nora0036-1 (December 17, 2013).
At the time of publication, 1833, The American Temperance Union was first formed. The names of the authors of this article are unknown, but they were both members of the Temperance Society. The authors produced this writing in order to clarify their opinion on temperance societies; the article began by explaining the doubt first felt on the effectiveness, but continued to claim that temperance societies are very helpful. The authors later complain about the overwhelming amount of people that have alcohol problems in the US, and compare drunkards to an uncivilized, savage Indian race. Most of the article degrades drunkards and praises temperance societies; clearly the authors are trying to persuade readers to join the temperance reform. The article published expresses personal views and opinions of the writers; therefore, the information in this article may not be entirely factual. These particular authors, though, give exact statistics of the New York State Temperance Society, number of drunkards in the US and the amount of alcohol consumed daily by Americans, which are all cited from their original sources. This document also presents information on the success of temperance societies despite common belief that they would not be successful. This comment gives the reader an understanding that people at the time did not think the temperance reform would have success because the alcohol dependency was extremely out of hand. Although the above information was given, the document did not touch upon spousal abuse as a result of drunkenness, which might be evidence that the authors are male. Other than that, this document provides more than enough detail and characterizations of drunkards to put the point across that temperance was much needed during this period in American history.
(Note: All lines following the first line of the bibliography, including the annotation) should be indented, but WordPress does not allow this format to be posted.)
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