Temperance And Racism: John Bull, Johnny Reb, and the Good Templars - Hardcover

Fahey, David M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813119847 ISBN 13: 9780813119847

Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky, 1996

Synopsis

One hundred twenty years ago, the Independent Order of Good Templars was the world's largest, most militant, and most evangelical organization hostile to alcoholic drink. Standing in the forefront of the international temperance movement, it was recognized worldwide as a potent social and moral force.

Temperance and Racism restores the Templars, now an almost forgotten footnote in American and British social history, to a position of prominence within the temperance movement. The group's ideology of universal membership made it unique among fraternal organizations in the late nineteenth century and led to pioneering efforts on behalf of equal rights for women.

Its policy toward African Americans was more ambiguous. Though a great many white Templars, especially those in Great Britain, rejected the extreme racism prevalent in the late nineteenth century, members in the American South did not. The decision to allow state lodges to rule on their membership eligibility led to the great schism of 1876-87. The break was mended only after British leaders compromised their ideals of universal brotherhood and sisterhood for the sake of the organization's international unity. Drawing on previously unused primary sources, David Fahey reveals much about racial attitudes and behavior in the late nineteenth century on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, and on both sides of the Atlantic.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Temperance and Racism restores the Templars, now an almost forgotten footnote in American and British social history, to a position of prominence within the temperance movement. Lodge rituals, sociable evenings, and denunciations of drink attracted a largely youthful membership in North America and Britain. The group's ideology of universal membership made it unique among fraternal organizations in the late nineteenth century and led to pioneering efforts on behalf of equal rights for women. The Templars' policy toward blacks, however, was more ambiguous. Millions of women and men joined the order after the American Civil War, yet mounting tensions arose over membership for recently freed slaves. The organization split apart in 1876 when Templars in the American South, who wanted to exclude blacks together, and those in Great Britain, where racial exclusion offended many members, could not reach a compromise on the issue. Spurred by a desire to remain a truly international organization, the two sides eventually reconciled in 1887 after southern whites lost their once impressive membership numbers and, consequently, their clout within the order and after British Templars recognized they could not force racial inclusiveness in the American South. Their decision to reject racism in principle while supporting segregation in practice contradicted the Templars' ideal of universal brotherhood. Combined with the years of schism, this spelled the end of international leadership for the order, and their numbers gradually dwindled.

About the Author

David M. Fahey, professor of history at Miami University (Ohio), is former president of the Alcohol and Temperance History Group. He is editor of The Black Lodge in White America.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0813119847
• ISBN 13: 9780813119847
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224