DURATION
OF THE MOVEMENT
How
long the Washingtonian movement continued in full force is a difficult
question to answer. The most dramatic strides were made between the
summers of 1841 and 1842, but apparently the peak of activity was reached
in 1843. That year, Gough was touring New England, and Hawkins northern
and western New York as well as sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and
Maine. R.P. Taylor was doing effective work in Georgia. Late that autumn
Hawkins campaigned in North Carolina and Georgia, stimulating great
Washingtonian activity in that region. It was a year of high activity,
with the major portion of the work carried on, as it was through most
of the life of the movement, by numerous Washingtonians whose names
are unrecorded.
On
May 28, 1844, in Boston, the Washingtonians were the sponsors of, and
leading participants in, the largest temperance demonstration ever held,
up to that time, with nearly 30,000 members of various temperance organizations
participating. Governor George N. Briggs, William K. Mitchell and John
B. Gough were the leading speakers.
In
the fall of 1845 Hawkins began one of his most intensive campaigns,
in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, winding up in the spring of 1846 with
very successful meetings in New Orleans and Mobile. During this 8-month
period Hawkins not only spoke daily but also directed the work of many
assistants and helped, as he always did, to organize societies to continue
the work. In much of the territory covered by Hawkins on this campaign
the Washingtonian movement was still at full tide in 1845 and 1846.
This tends to corroborate the generalization of Wooley and Johnson that
"for four years it continued to sweep the country." But in
some of the cities which had been reached by the movement in 1841, a
decline had already set in.
In
New York City the Sons of Temperance, a total abstinence order which
had been founded with the help and blessing of Washingtonians, had begun,
late in 1842, to receive into its membership many Washingtonians. Slowly
but increasingly it displaced the function of the Washington societies.
In
Cincinnati, in January 1845, Lyman Beecher wrote to John Marsh about
the "resurgence of the liquor tide" and of the need for a
new type of temperance appeal. He thought that "though the Washingtonians
have endured and worked well, their thunder is worn out"(13).
Fehlandt
(4) states that "By 1843...interest began to wane, and soon Washingtonianism
had spent its force." It might be correct to say that the first
signs of waning interest appeared in 1843 but it is not probable that
such signs were detectable in most areas before 1844 - and in some areas
not until latter. Hence, no generalization seems to apply to the entire
country.
Most
significant as an index of general interest are the references to the
Washingtonian movement in the annual Reports of the executive committee
of the American Temperance Union, published in May of each year. The
1842 Report enthusiastically details the spread of the movement. The
1843 Report reflects continued enthusiasm. The 1844 Report notes that
the movement "has continued through its fourth year with as much
interest as could be expected." The 1845 Report contains news of
the crowded weekly meetings and increased success of the Hartford, Conn.,
Washington Temperance Society, but there is also expressed the feeling
of John Marsh that the movement "has in a considerable measure
spent its force." In the 1846 Report the movement is referred to
as "once so deeply enlisting the sympathies." In the 1847
Report it is admitted that "The reformation of drunkards has not,
as in former years, formed a prominent part of the year now past."
The 1848 Report contains no mention of the Washingtonian movement at
all.
Hawkins,
Gough and others were called Washingtonians to the end of their lives,
but there is no record, to the writer's knowledge, of organized Washingtonian
activity beyond 1847 except in the Boston area.3 There in March 1847,
the Washingtonians of New
England
held a large convention. In January 1848 the Boston Washington Society
reported having 56,380 signatures since the date of its founding in
1841. According to Harrison (8), writing in 1860, the Boston society
continued to exist and meet weekly up to 1860, at which time 70,000
signatures were claimed. In 1858 the Home for the Fallen, using Washingtonian
principles in the rehabilitation of alcoholics, was in existence in
Boston.4 But in other parts of the country, by 1858, there were to be
found references to "the early days" when Washingtonianism
swept the country.
3
The writer has since learned of the existence of the Washingtonian Home
in Chicago, founded in 1863 by members of the Order of Good Templars
who may well have been Washingtonians. This institution is still engaged
exclusively in the rehabilitation of alcoholics.
4
This institution has been in continuous existence to the present time,
having undergone a number of changes in name and in policy. It is now
known as the Washington Hospital and engages in the treatment of alcoholism
by contemporary medical and social techniques.
