The History of Alcohol in the United States

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The History of Alcohol in the United States |

Drugs and Society |

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Table of Contents

1) The History of alcohol..........1

2) Prohibition……….2

3) Early Alcoholism Treatments……….3

4) Alcoholics Anonymous……….5

5) Modern Alcoholism Theory……….5

6) Current Treatments………..6

We will be discussing a number of topics dealing with the History of Alcohol in America. The first of the topics to be discussed will be the early history of Alcohol in America. This entailed the first settlers in America having safe drinking water during travel. The second topic we will go into the era of prohibition. This was a time where alcohol became illegal to make, sell, and drink. The third interesting topic we will discuss is what the first treatments for alcoholism in America were. There were a number of interesting processes that were tried to help alcoholics; such as The Keeley Method, aversive treatments, insane asylums, lobotomies and forced sterilizations. Then we will move onto the topic of Alcoholics Anonymous. This is an organization where people can come and join together in hopes to maintain a sober life. Next will be the Modern Alcoholism Theory. This idea talks about how alcoholism is a disease of the brain. Lastly we will discuss the current treatments of alcoholism in America. These treatments would be cognitive-behavioral therapy, AA or Alcoholics Anonymous, or motivational enhancement therapy.

The first topic we will discuss is the early history of alcohol in America. The beginning of alcoholism crisis in America started with the landing on Plymouth Rock in 1620. The reason why alcohol became a problem in America was because it was more common for the Pilgrims to drink alcohol then it was for them to drink water. (Gold) This was because stored water became contaminated, whereas beer was filtered and was safer to drink after long period’s storage. (Gold) Settlers had run out of alcohol on their journey and had...