Maine Memory Network

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Neal Dow

"… pauperism, poverty, brutality, degradation and crime." - Neal Dow, Speech on his 93rd birthday, March 18, 1897 X Great Moral Ideas in the…"

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

"In 1685, Maine taverns were prohibited from selling alcohol to Native Americans and were held accountable if they drank too much."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1919 to 1934: The Nation Follows Maine Into Prohibition

"Underground brewers, distillers, and merchants found new opportunities to flourish as they had after the Maine Law was passed 70 years before."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Politics and Enforcement

"… and a rum-drinker, and have brought my wife and children into trouble and poverty, and I do not see how Christ can forgive me." X Chamber…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Reform and Repeal

"X Patrick and Marie Cyr, ca. 1940 Biddeford Courtesy of Janet and Ray Verrier Acadian entrepreneurs from Van Buren, Patrick (1897-1959) made beer…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking: Elegance and Debauchery

"… 1840 John Martin (1823-1904) Watercolor and pen and ink hand-illustrated journals Collections of Historical Society and the Maine State Museum…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Taverns, People, and Scenes

"I once went with my father to a funeral in Beaver (now Brown) Street, and a decanter of liquor and glasses were set on the coffin" Reverend Elijah…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Acknowledgements

"Daveis Benevolent Fund. Rum, Riot, and Reform: Maine and the History of American Drinking Curators: Bill Barry Nan Cumming Design: Nan Cumming Mark…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Women Leaders and Temperance

"GALLERIES: Politics and Enforcement | Women Leaders and Temperance | Quenching the Thirst | Business as Usual"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Overview & Introduction

"… Maine's social, economic and political history, and profiling the events and leaders in Maine that catalyzed other States' and eventually the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - The Continuing Debate

"If banning the manufacture and use of alcohol was a failure nationally and statewide, one very positive change emerged from the ranks of the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Temperance Membership

"… Mechanic Association, Pump and Block Makers, Mast and Spar Makers, Rope Makers, Riggers and Sail Makers, 1841 William Capen, Jr. (ca."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Quenching the Thirst

"GALLERIES: Politics and Enforcement | Women Leaders and Temperance | Quenching the Thirst | Business as Usual"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Influential & Interesting Documents

"GALLERIES: Drinking Implements | Taverns, People, and Scenes | Influential and Interesting Documents"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Business as Usual

"GALLERIES: Politics and Enforcement | Women Leaders and Temperance | Quenching the Thirst | Business as Usual"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Bootleggers vs. Police

"1920 William Norman Ritche Pen and ink cartoon Collections of Maine Historical Society Born in Canada, "Norman" was a long-time contributor to the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking Implements

"Schwind, Jr. Antiques GALLERIES: Drinking Implements | Taverns, People, and Scenes | Influential and Interesting Documents"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Society Copes

"Sewall. Keeping, drinking, and serving alcohol was by no means limited to one social, economic, religious, or ethnic part of the population."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1865 to 1919: The Drys Gain New Adherents and Leaders

"… the anti-liquor cause, now led by both reformers and Republican and Democratic politicians, built a power base on temperance success."

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."

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

"Alcohol has soothed and troubled life in Maine and America in numerous subtle and not-so-subtle ways."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"Decanters, tumblers and windows all fell victim to the assault and thus was one of King Alchy's strongholds stormed by a woman." The first name of…"

Prohibition in Maine in the 1920s

Federal Prohibition took hold of America in 1920 with the passing of the Volstead Act that banned the sale and consumption of all alcohol in the US. However, Maine had the Temperance movement long before anyone was prohibited from taking part in one of America's most popular past times. Starting in 1851, the struggles between the "drys" and the "wets" of Maine lasted for 82 years, a period of time that was everything but dry and rife with nothing but illegal activity.

The Devil and the Wilderness

Anglo-Americans in northern New England sometimes interpreted their own anxieties about the Wilderness, their faith, and their conflicts with Native Americans as signs that the Devil and his handmaidens, witches, were active in their midst.