The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
|
 |
 
|
xo SCOTUS buries TTTeetotalers
| potluck | 06/19/26 |
| gay of hormuz | 06/19/26 |
| potluck | 06/19/26 |
| Charles Tyrwhitt Dad | 06/19/26 |
Poast new message in this thread
Date: June 19th, 2026 11:57 AM Author: potluck Had habitual drunkard laws applied to those who simply drank regularly, many notable early Americans could have faced trouble. John Adams took “a tankard of hard cider” with his “daily breakfast.” W. Rorabaugh, The Alcoholic Republic 6 (1979) (Rorabaugh). Some say James Madison “consumed a pint of whiskey daily.” D. Okrent, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition 8 (2010); but see M. Will- Weber, Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking 29 (2014) (arguing Madi-son “championed wine . . . as a healthier and more respect-able choice”). George Washington often drank three glasses of madeira in the evening—“not enough to be considered a heavy drinker in his day.” Id., at 5. Thomas Jefferson en-joyed “3 or 4 glasses [of wine] at dinner.” J. Gabler, Pas-sions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson 223 (1995). In fact, just a few days before the framers signed the Constitution, a farewell party gathered for General Washington at Philadelphia’s City Tavern where 55 guests are said to have ordered 54 bottles of madeira, 60 bottles of wine, 8 bottles of “Old stock,” 22 bottles of porter, 8 bottles of cider, 12 bottles of beer, and 7 large bowls of punch. Na-tional Park Service, C. Hershey, Historic Furnishings Plan: City Tavern 64–65 (1974). There was, in short, a “culture of copious drinking” in early America. D. Korostyshevsky, Incapable of Managing His Estate: Habitual Drunkards and the Expansion of Guardianship in the Nineteenth-Century United States, 43 Law & Hist. Rev. 795, 800 (2025). Indeed, in 1829 the “sec-retary of war estimated that three-quarters of the nation’s laborers drank . . . at least 4 ounces of distilled spirits” every day. Rorabaugh 15. Even the American Temperance Society called those who drank 12 ounces of hard liquor daily mere “‘occasional drunkards.’” Id., at 11. As the So-ciety saw things, it took 24 ounces to qualify as a “‘con-firmed drunkar[d].’” Ibid. |
Date: June 19th, 2026 11:58 AM Author: gay of hormuz 54 bottles of madeira, 60 bottles of wine, 8 bottles of “Old stock,” 22 bottles of porter, 8 bottles of cider, 12 bottles of beer, and 7 large bowls of punch.
now thats a potluck |
 |
Date: June 19th, 2026 11:59 AM Author: potluck (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5875557&forum_id=2]#49948400) |
|
Date: June 19th, 2026 12:58 PM Author: Charles Tyrwhitt Dad There was no standard sizes for bottles. Most wine and beer bottles were notably smaller than current standard sizes. And wine had lower alcohol content than modern wine.
But, yes, people still drank substantial amounts of alcohol. It was ingrained in American life. The teetotal movement didn't come out of nowhere. |