Maine Memory Network

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Overview & Introduction

"The drive to reform the abuse of alcohol was one of the great moral and social controversies of the 19th and early 20th centuries."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Why Study the History of Drinking?

"For women, the fight against alcohol abuse and other social ills in the later 19th and early 20th centuries led to a growing political, and…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret

"More subtle forms of alcohol abuse in the community, however, were left largely unaddressed. For this reason, at least one 19th-century critic…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law

"Its abuse led to violence, spousal and child abuse, loss of work, and sometimes, a night in jail. Drunkenness among children was not uncommon, either."

Cumberland & North Yarmouth - Maine's Pauper Laws and the Cumberland Overseers of the Poor

"A complaint of abuse, ill treatment or neglect by the Overseers against the master could result in a court decision to liberate or discharge the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Quenching the Thirst

"Though not an abuser of ardent spirits, Longfellow frowned on the more fanatic Temperance leaders. One of his last letters was to his wine merchant…"