So how do lawyers and historians pass their respective bar exams? Lawyers mostly study hard. Spirited historians sip booze. The American Whiskey Trail, championed by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, includes such local historical sites as George Washington’s Distillery and Gadsby’s Tavern Museum.
Reconstructed within the last decade, Washington’s Mount Vernon Distillery was originally built in 1797. It was the country’s largest 18th century facility, producing approximately 11,000 gallons of whiskey annually. Whiskey sold for $.50 a gallon and the remaining slop – distilled grain – was recyclable. The Distillery was also home to 150 pigs and 30 cows.
George Washington’s Distillery generated a substantial profit. Slave labor was cheap and demand exceeded production. Alexandria’s George Gilpin was among the Distillery’s earliest customers. A King Street homeowner, Gilpin sold Washington’s whiskey at his store. The un-aged whiskey was made from 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley.
Today the standard alcoholic drink is either 12-ounces of regular beer, 1½-ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits, or 5-ounces of wine. Who has not heard about the health benefits associated with drinking red wine? Yet not that many years ago alcohol consumption was illegal.
For 13 years – from 1920 until 1933 – America said no to liquor. The temperance movement reached its zenith in the early 20th century, the result of a lobby group active since the 1830s. Alcohol use was associated with social ills, social reform, and German and Irish immigrants. As with any morality play, the ending was prescribed.
Prohibition exhibited many of the characteristics inherent in progressive reforms. Prohibitionists couched their middle class message in conformity. As early as 1784 Dr. Benjamin Rush argued “that the excessive use of alcohol was injurious to health.”
The nation’s first temperance association was formed in 1789; Virginia’s in 1800. Over time Rush’s call for drinking in moderation morphed into a religious cause. Tired of enduring drunken behavior at home, The Women’s Christian Temperance Union argued for abstinence. Many of the early temperance advocates were women.
Maine, in 1851, became the first State to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages except for “medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes.” Although patent medicines were well-known for their alcohol content, such products remained protected. Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound for example was a liquor-laced, herbal remedy sold to women with female complaints.
Although Maine’s abstinence law eventually failed, temperance education did not. Temperance supposedly was the panacea for poverty, crime, and domestic violence. Abolitionists and suffragists eagerly joined the temperance movement. Some advocates like Carrie Nation resorted to violence. Using her trademarked name Carry A. Nation, she physically destroyed bars with a hatchet.
In 1917 – perhaps timed to coincide with America’s entry into World War I and the country’s anti-German sentiment – the country’s Prohibition amendment passed. Two years later the amendment was ratified by the States.
“After one year from the ratification of this article, the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited,” the 18th Amendment decreed.
The 1920’s were a behavioral experiment, a “noble experiment” Herbert Hoover said. Prohibition was hard. Public behavior deteriorated and enforcement was difficult. Bootleggers, speakeasies, and bathtub gin were common. Hoodlums, gangsters and corrupt politicians teamed for financial gain.
By the 1930s the stock market had crashed and Americans were thirsty for change. In 1933, Congress repealed the 18th Amendment. Alcohol flowed almost as easily as it once did at Mount Vernon’s Distillery. Moderate alcohol consumption was again the public’s behavior of choice.
George Washington’s Distillery is open seasonally, from March through October. It is located on Route 235, three miles south of Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens. Watch as first person interpreters stir the mash tubs and make whiskey. For additional information including the Distillery’s hours of operation and admission rates, visit www.mountvernon.org.
George Washington first attended Gadsby’s Birthnight Ball, a tavern party given in his honor, in 1798. The Ball is now an annual Museum event. For more information regarding Old Town Alexandria’s Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, visit http://oha.alexandriava.gov/gadsby. Admission fees apply.
Travel the American Whiskey Trail. The Puritans knew the value of alcohol. They loaded more beer than water for their voyage to the New World.
Publishers Note: April 2008 marked the 75th year since the 18th Amendment/Prohibition was lifted.
SIDEBAR
George Washington’s Beer Recipe
To make Small Beer take a large siffer full of bran hops to your taste-boil these 3 hours. Then strain our 30 gall[o]n into a cooler put in 3 gall[o]n molasses while the beer is scalding hot or rather draw the molasses into the cooler. Strain the beer on it while boiling hot, let this stand till it is little more than blood warm. Then put in a quart of ye[a]st if the weather is very cold cover it over with a blank[et] let it work in the cask-Leave the bung open till it is almost done working-Bottle it that day week it was brewed.
Note: The alcohol content is approximately 11%.
