An Address, Delivered January 24, 1830, in the Second Baptist Meetinghouse in Haverhill: Preparatory to the Organization of the East-Haverhill Temperance Society

An Address, Delivered January 24, 1830, In The Second Baptist Meetinghouse In Haverhill: Preparatory To The Organization Of The East-Haverhill Temperance Society by Dudley Phelps. This collection reproduces temperance discourses from the early 1830s. The main address denounces the evils of intemperance as a direct assault on morality and public order, warning that liquor fosters poverty, crime, and family breakdown. Phelps argues that the temperance reform is a sacred duty and calls for total abstinence, formation of local temperance societies, and active civic participation to deter consumption. He enumerates social and economic harms, including millions of dollars in lost productivity and the exploitation of the vulnerable; he contrasts sober citizenship with dependence on intoxicants and urges congregations and communities to unite against the liquor trade. The volume also includes other temperance addresses from 1830 by William Sweetsser and Mark Tucker, reflecting a broader early American temperance movement.