Alcohol in Colonial America

The first preparationtlers arrived to the the Statess and staked their claim on this sore discovery. Something else was delay for the settlers, a beverage of intoxication. Almost as quickly as they began to raise and sub-divide the land, the immigrants, and true natives to North America sh ard their beloved slip bye alcoholic drinkic drink. Cultures of change races arrived and shared in this most cherished drink. There were uses for alcohol in the earliest colonial times that went beyond a beverage to drink in festive gatherings.There are varied beliefs surrounding the conceit of alcohol enjoyment and its effects on British Colonies. Some are true, others are false. I will construct an investigation surrounding the write up of alcohol in Colonial America with persuasive evidence to instigate my findings. alcoholic drink, too comm only referred to as spirits in Colonial America had many uses. alcoholic drink, of course, was utilize in festive times, gain it was also used in spectral ceremonies as well and providing medicinal properties to aid in curing ailments.The sign impact of alcohol on the settlers led them to train it for its varied uses. Although moderate use of alcohol was accredited, society, from its inception into the Americas, frowned upon single(a)s becoming as well intoxicated. In other words, dipsomania was viewed negatively. Since alcohol was deliberateed a gift from the gods to the natives, the settlers, too, accepted its mind-altering properties as fewthing almost sacred. The growing communities treasured it, just as the natives did. Time and abuse were two components that led to problems for alcohol consumption.Due to its succeeder in the minds of settlers, they partook in alcohol consumption for all three meals of the solar day beer with breakfast, dense cyder with lunch, beer with supper. In fact, beer and lumbering cyder were the most favourite drinks for colonists. As the beverage continued, they wanted to learn how to brew beer. One of the initial problemsaside from increasing abuse of alcoholic rummyennesswas the lack of sufficient ingredients. Barley, grains, hops, and yeast were the main ingredients in a brewing beer. The colonies did non leave an ample selection of hops and grains.Harvesting of barley and hops was not a common crop among farmers of this era. Many colonists tried different ingredients, but nothing satisfied the perfect blend of hops, barley, yeast, and grain. By the late 1600s, cider became a top choice among colonists, mainly due the apple crops that were paramount in colonial times. Mass production through efficient farm and harvesting by colonists was seen. Thanks again to England for the apples. Farmers change magnituded their work charge up mainly due to the reward of the final product cider maturate into hard cider (which included alcohol).With the increasing hotity of beer and cider, the settlers discovered a take on to increase their selectio n. The settlers started to import inexpensive yields of sugar cane and molasses to brew most other popular drink rum. Rum quickly gained in popularity for the following reasons it was trashy to produce and tasted good. By 1700, in Boston, the first commercial distillery was opened. The increase in rum consumption was the first challenge to the beer market. Religion and alcohol found a common link. In fact, many taverns were needful to be built near church servicees or the local town meeting house.The religious zealots accepted alcohol consumptionstrictly in palliation, though. Drunkenness, of course, was viewed as sinful. Alcohol soon became a problem in the eyes of the church and laws were ceremonious surrounding alcohol. In 1697, in New York, they enacted a law that required all taverns to be closed on Sunday. They required that the Sabbath be set aside as a day solely for reconciliation with the churchman and prayer. In conjunction with the closure of taverns on Sundays, the church required further regulations against alcohol consumption on Saturday nights as well.The main business organization for the church was that taverns were gaining more than popularity than the Sunday services. The idealistic Charles Woodmason went one step further and cautioned parishioners with the perspective that there was a competition between the church and tavern for souls. Reverend Charles was quoted was saying the following, the taverns had more company of a Saturday, than in the church on Sunday. As colonists went into the early part of the 19th century, religion encouraged moderation in any and all alcoholic drinks. Alcohol, aside from the churches persistent concern over winoenness and a loss of parishioner appeal, had other uses.Alcohol was also widely used in the field of medicine. Many doctors and medical practitioners believed that some of the stronger spirits could prevent disease, cure some common infections, and offer replacement to minor aches and p ains such as headaches, sore joints and muscles. In these instances, doctors would bring down rum, hard cider, or whiskey. Doctors also encouraged patients to increase alcohol consumption to relieve emotional or stressful problems in their free-and-easy life. In fact, doctors went so far as to prescribe families to drink alcohol in lie of water.They thought that water brought from Europe was contaminated, and, thus, could lead to serious illness. Alcohol consumption was also official to children suffering from viral infections as well as aiding in their development into a stronger, more physically habilitate individual. A little whiskey and honey went a long appearance for a sick child. The unusual, or even outlandish, practices went further still doctors prescribed hard liquor to women who were in labor, a means of numbing some of the intense pain suffered during labor. Midwives would brew what was coined groaning ale. This groaning ale contained extremely high contents of alco hol and special spices, all in hopes of easing the child bearing pains. A variation to groaning ale was used by some doctors. This was a little little(prenominal) toxin on the mother and baby. Doctors concocted spirits that were used as an anesthetic. This anesthetic was less expensive and more readily available from household to household than the hard spirits used in the groaning ale. Alcohol, as with many new products brought to civilised society, began as an innocent and purely unspoilt product.Beyond the stress-reducing capacity for hard cider or beer, the early nutritionists thought alcohol had great nutritionary value and needed to be added to a persons health-conscious daily diet regime. Due to this initial nutritious appeal, politicians did not, initially, write jurisprudence curb alcohol consumption. It was not until 1619, in the state of Virginia, that the first law was passed to conquer alcohol use. Policy maker main objective was to restrict drunkenness, not prohi bit the use of alcohol.This first law enacted a penalisation against drunkenness which stated that if you were arrested for being drunk and disorderly, then the fine would be up to 5 shillings or imprisonment. In time, however, politician modified the law to only include a monetary infraction. The reasoning behind this law was because the lower-classes tended to be the ones caught in public, and politicians felt a fine would be viewed as more distressing to the lower-class and curtail drunkenness. The next state to enact legislation surrounding alcohol consumption was Maryland. In Maryland, in 1639, they attempted to secure the amount a person drank.According to law, it was misappropriated to be drunk in public drunkenness was defined as drinking with oversupply to the notable perturbation of any organ or sense of motion. The penalty was the same as in Virginia 5 shillings. In 1645, Massachusetts jumped on the alcohol bandwagon, passing a law that restricted the amount an indiv idual could consume at any period of time. The law stated the following, The courts consider it illegal to drink more than a pint of wine at a time. Anything over a pint constituted inebriation. On top of this, Massachusetts instituted another statute for ale houses and tavern owners.This statute made it illegal for owners to serve a customer beyond the legal limit, a arduous law to follow. With this statute, however, both the proprietor and customer could be fined for disobeying this law (Austin, Gregory p. 230). The Plymouth colonies chose a different slant in enacting their alcohol legislation. Unlike the Virginian definition for drunkenness, in the Plymouth colony the focus was on motor skills. Plymouth went so far as to define the term which constituted a universal view end-to-end almost every colonythat alcohol is not healthy, nor should it be considered beneficial to a persons health.The Plymouth definition was as follows they viewed being drunknot by loss of mobility or am ount consumedbut preferably by the persons ability speak clearly A person that lisps or faulters in his speech by reason of drink, or that vomits, or cannot follow his calling. (Austin, Gregory, p. 240) When we look at gender, women were not considered part of the drinking culture. Most often, women drank in private (Salinger, Sharon p 223). According to historical record, women seldom drank in public in colonial times. It was viewed as unacceptable for a woman.Policy makers enacted different conditions and consequences for each gender. Women were rarely seen in bars and taverns in this period. The brewing of beer, up until the late 1700s, was an art left for the women to complete. Men would be off at work during the day and women kept the house in order, which included beer and liquor. Home-brewing was very common. In fact, most households that drank brewed their own ale. The Spaniards arrived in the 1700s and brought wine to the colonies. At the time, vineyards were unheard of t hus, without grapes they could not cultivate, ferment, and produce wine in the colonies.It was brought over on ship. The French soon followed and were able to cultivate the grapes on colony soil. Wine consumption gained in popularity, yet the hard cider was still the preferred drink among the middle class. Germans, too, became part of the alcohol dynamic. The Germans brought intermit techniques to brewing fine ales and were the first to bring lagers to the Americas. All of these countries brought new ideas and new brewing methods to the colonies. In conclusion, it is apparent that the initial discovery of alcohol for the colonies was viewed as a sacred drink.The colonists took the vision of the natives and brought it into their lives as a daily staple. The harms and electromotive force for dangerous situations soon became rampant with all the drunken colonists. Laws were passed and changes were made in various colonies in hopes of curtailing the problems associated with drunken be havior. Even the churches got involved. As new cultures land from various countries, they discovered new varieties on crafting a very popular beverage. Regardless of all the dangers associated with alcohol consumption, I believe its dismissal to continue to be a drink enjoyed throughout the world.