The
Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded in Cleveland,
Ohio in 1874. The main objective of the WCTU was to persuade all states
to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages. Early campaigners for
prohibition included William Lloyd Garrison,
Frances E. Willard, Anna
Howard Shaw, Carry Nation and Ida
Wise Smith.
Under
the leadership of Frances E. Willard
(1879-1898) and Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919),
the organisation succeeded in bringing about temperance education
in schools. The WCTU also supported the prison reform, women's
suffrage and the abolition of prostitution,
Opinion on prohibition began to change and by January, 1919, 75% of
the states in America had approved the 18th Amendment which prohibited
the "sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors". This
became the law of the land when the Volstead
Act was passed in 1920.
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