History Main / DryCrusader

* Dry Crusaders appear in [[{{VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun}} Victoria II]] in several forms, such as events asking the leader to teach temperance, sometimes even asking to outright ban alcohol over the nation. The player themselves can in turn become one, but this does come with some risks such as encouraging reactionary thought or encouraging general population militancy, which may not end well.

ValuesDissonance also applies, as people with alcohol and drug addictions are seen in a more sympathetic light today, while in the past alcoholism was consider simply a moral failing.

Danemark, Norway, Finland, Sweden also had prohibition, about the same time. Today they have no more, but once their prohibitions ended they made rather strict regulations (in Denmark alcohol is sold only in governement owned shops, at rather late hours (6 to 8PM). New Zealand came close to this as well.

As another AlwaysFemale character, the Dry Crusader is a JustifiedTrope. Alcoholism was a serious problem in the 19th and early 20th centuries (ans still is), and usually it were the wives and children who had to endure the violent bouts of their alcoholic husbands, and the ensuing poverty as many men squandered their salaries on drink. The Dry Crusader is not limited to the U.S. and can also be found in stories set in Canada, Britain, and other countries that have a history of puritanism and/or campaigns against the consumption of alcohol, such as Scandinavia.

As another AlwaysFemale character, the Dry Crusader is a JustifiedTrope. Alcoholism was a serious problem in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and usually it were the wives and children who had to endure the violent bouts of their alcoholic husbands, and the ensuing poverty as many men squandered their salaries on drink. The Dry Crusader is not limited to the U.S. and can also be found in stories set in Canada, Britain, and other countries that have a history of puritanism and/or campaigns against the consumption of alcohol, such as Scandinavia.

There's also another, darker side to the Dry Crusader, at least in the US. The US was industrializing at the time and factories were going up everywhere to take advantage of the nation's abundant natural resources. As a result, the economic boom was fed by a flood of immigrants, and where you get immigrants, you get a surge in anti-immigrant bigotry (this period also saw the formation of the anti-immigrant Know Nothing political party). Alcohol and alcoholism had always been a problem, but it was viewed as an individual moral problem, rather than a social problem, and much of the rise of the various temperance movements was fed by this rise in bigotry. Thus they wanted to fight the Germans with their beer, the Italians with their wine, the slavs with their vodka, etc. who were "destroying America's moral character with their degenerate habits". People at the time were well aware of this sort of thing, as the well known slogan "Every Nation But Carrie" made it onto commemorative products sold by or to bars like postcards and miniature hatchets.[[note]]Carrie Nation was a nationally (in)famous temperance activist who attacked saloons with a hatchet. On the flipside, bars and saloons were happy to welcome any customer (outside the South) and came close to being the Melting Pot that the US likes to proclaim itself.[[/note]]

* In Finland, the Dry Crusaders are often seen as the foremothers of the modern Eco-Terrorists: fanatics who are ready to run for fair goals (temperance and protection of nature) with foul means (violence and vandalism). They managed to have Prohibition stated in the Finnish law in 1918, albeit it [[GoneHorriblyWrong went pear-shaped]]. The Prohibition in Finland was repealed 1932.

There's also another, darker side to the Dry Crusader, at least in the US. The US was industrializing at the time and factories were going up everywhere to take advantage of the nation's abundant natural resources. As a result, the economic boom was fed by a flood of immigrants, and where you get immigrants, you get a surge in anti-immigrant bigotry (this period also saw the formation of the anti-immigrant Know Nothing political party). Alcohol and alcoholism had always been a problem, but it was viewed as an individual moral problem, rather than a social problem, and much of the rise of the various temperance movements was fed by this rise in bigotry. Thus they wanted to fight the Germans with their beer, the Italians with their wine, the slavs with their vodka, etc. who were "destroying America's moral character with their degenerate habits". People at the time were well aware of this sort of thing, as the well known slogan "Every Nation But Carrie" made it onto commemorative products sold by or to bars like postcards and miniature hatchets[[note]]Carrie Nation was a nationally (in)famous temperance activist who attacked saloons with a hatchet. On the flipside, bars and saloons were happy to welcome any customer (outside the South) and came close to being the Melting Pot that the US likes to proclaim itself.[[/note]].

There's also another, darker side to the Dry Crusader, at least in the US. The US was industrializing at the time and factories were going up everywhere to take advantage of the nation's abundant natural resources. As a result, the economic boom was fed by a flood of immigrants, and where you get immigrants, you get a surge in anti-immigrant bigotry (this period also saw the formation of the anti-immigrant Know Nothing political party). Alcohol and alcoholism had always been a problem, but it was viewed as an individual moral problem, rather than a social problem, and much of the rise of the various temperance movements was fed by this rise in bigotry. Thus they wanted to fight the Germans with their beer, the Italians with their wine, the slavs with their vodka, etc. who were "destroying America's moral character with their degenerate habits". People at the time were well aware of this sort of thing, as well known slogan "Every Nation But Carrie" made it onto commemorative products sold to or by bars like postcards and miniature hatchets[[note]]Carrie Nation was a nationally (in)famous temperance activist who attacked saloons with a hatchet. On the flipside, bars and saloons were happy to welcome any customer (outside the South) and came close to being the Melting Pot that the US likes to proclaim itself.[[/note]].

That said, this anti-immigrant bigotry is connected with the rise of the teetotaler movement to greater prominence, power, and radicalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Temperance as a whole goes back well into the 18th century, where it could be connected with health (native American temperance movements), class (the poors and their gin), and, yes, the moral crusade against alcohol as a sinful vice. Hence, works which present a Dry Crusader may intend to present a very different message depending on the time period it was produced in and how they present the crusader. In 1790, they (yes, there were male teetotalers, although women were overrepresented because moral crusades were one of the few ways they could participate in politics) might be presented as a little prudish, or a prig, or one of the few upright characters. In the 1890s, they might be presented as prudish, or a prig, or one of the few upright characters, or a white supremacist (which, again, [[ValuesDissonance might be presented as one of the few upright characters]]).

As another AlwaysFemale character, the DryCrusader is a JustifiedTrope. Alcoholism was a serious problem in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and usually it were the wives and children who had to endure the violent bouts of their alcoholic husbands, and the ensuing poverty as many men squandered their salaries on drink. The Dry Crusader is not limited to the U.S. and can also be found in stories set in Canada, Britain, and other countries that have a history of puritanism and/or campaigns against the consumption of alcohol, such as Scandinavia.

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', Elizabeth shows a brief flash of this trope when she and Jack are marooned on a island. Much to his horror, she burns all the rum. It's mostly for a signal fire, but she cites the additional reason that rum is "a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels."

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', Elizabeth shows a brief flash of this trope when she and Jack are marooned on a island, and she burns all the rum. It's mostly for a signal fire, but she cites the additional reason that rum is "a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels."

* At the beginning of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'', Margaret is a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, mainly because her husband is an alcoholic and commits DomesticAbuse.

* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': PlayedForLaughs when Phryne, an unabashed [[TheHedonist hedonist]], visits a relative who turns out to be active in the temperance movement; Phryne quickly smuggles some champagne into the household. It becomes a FunnyAneurysmMoment when it's revealed that the relative is a closet [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] who's [[spoiler:being {{Blackmail}}ed by her supplier.]]

* Thomas Riley Marshall, who eventually became UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson's vice president, was an active campaigner against liquor. In his case, it stemmed from being a recovering alcoholic himself.

The Dry Crusader is not limited to the U.S. and can also be found in stories set in Canada, Britain, and other countries that have a history of puritanism and campaigns against the consumption of alcohol.

The Dry Crusader is what you get when you cross TheTeetotaler with the MoralGuardians, the PrinciplesZealot, and (sometimes) the WellIntentionedExtremist tropes. It's a character who believes consumption of alcohol is always evil in any amount at all times to everyone. Anyone who's unfortunate enough to be drinking a glass of beer within the Dry Crusader's line of sight will soon be subjected to an angry harangue warning him of the spiritual, moral, and health hazards that will result with one sip of the demon rum. It goes without saying that nothing short of a total ban on alcohol will satisfy the Dry Crusader. To achieve this goal, this person on occasion is not above resorting to [[ActivistFundamentalistAntics any means necessary]].

* ComicBook/LuckyLuke: Thanks to taking place during the Old West, these characters pop up every now and then, usually temperence groups consisting mostly of women, but men too, such as the visiting scientists from ''The Black Hills'', who not only order things like tea or lemonade in a saloon they stop at with Luke, they also give a lecture about the health effects on alchohol to an Indian they meet. An interesting example is BigBad August Oyster from ''Calamity Jane'', who start out as a saloon owner using his business to smuggle guns, but after losing it in a bet, he lies to the local temperance group that he's decided to turn over a new leaf and become this trope, so they'll help him shut it down.

* A man is enjoying a drink at a bar, when a nun comes in, decrying the evils of drink. He sighs, puts down his drink, and asks her, "Have you ever ''had'' a drink, Sister?" The nun admits she hasn't. "Well then, how do you know it's evil?" "My Mother Superior told me so," she replied. "Tell you what," says the man at the bar. "I'll buy you a drink. If you don't like it, I'll swear off alcohol for life. But if you ''do'' like it, you'll never bother anyone in this bar again." "I can't do that!" replied the nun. "I'm a nun! What would people think if they saw me drinking?!" "I'll just have the bartender put the drink in a teacup. Then no one has to know." The nun agrees, and he goes up to the bar. He orders another whiskey sour for himself, and a vodka on the rocks. He lowers his voice, and asks for the vodka to be placed in a teacup. The bartender says, "Oh, no, not that nun again!"

--> Back in 1880, Kansas residents had voted for prohibition, but the law was largely ignored by saloonkeepers. They operated openly, but Nation would change all that. First she prayed in front of an establishment in 1890. She struck at her first saloon on June 1, 1900. Initially, she used rocks, bricks and other objects for these attacks, then turned to the hatchet. Nearly six feet tall and strapping, the determined woman closed the saloons in Medicine Lodge.

* Thomas Riley Marshall, who eventually became UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson's vice president, was an active campaigner against liquor. In his case it stemmed from being a recovering alcoholic himself.
* The early 20th century evangelist Reverend Billy Sunday frequently preached against drinking alcohol and advocated its abolition.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E18HomerVsTheEighteenthAmendment Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment]]'', a prohibition movement is started after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Bart is caught drunk on camera during the St. Patrick's Day parade]]. The movement discovers that alcohol has actually been banned in Springfield for over two centuries but has never been enforced, and City Hall is pressured to agree to the prohibition. At the end of the episode, it's discovered that the prohibition law was repealed only a year after the original ban, [[StatusQuoIsGod and everything returns to normal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E18HomerVsTheEighteenthAmendment Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment]]'', a prohibition movement is started after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Bart is caught drunk on camera during the St. Patrick's Day parade]]. The movement discovers that alcohol has actually been banned in Springfield for over two centuries but has never been enforced, and the government is pressured to agree to the prohibition. At the end of the episode, it's discovered that the prohibition law was repealed only a year after the original ban, [[StatusQuoIsGod and everything returns to normal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E18HomerVsTheEighteenthAmendment Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment]]'', a prohibition movement is started after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Bart is caught drunk on camera during the St. Patrick's Day parade]]. The movement discovers that alcohol has actually been banned in Springfield for over two centuries, but has never been enforced, and the government is pressured to agree to the prohibition. At the end of the episode, it's discovered that the prohibition law was repealed only a year after the original ban, [[StatusQuoIsGod and everything returns to normal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E18HomerVsTheEighteenthAmendment Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment]]'' a prohibition movement is started after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Bart is caught drunk on camera during the St. Patrick's Day parade]]. The movement discovers that alcohol has actually been banned in Springfield for over two centuries, but has never been enforced, and the government is pressured to agree to the prohibition. At the end of the episode, it's discovered that the prohibition law was repealed only a year after the original ban, [[StatusQuoIsGod and everything returns to normal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E18HomerVsTheEighteenthAmendment Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment]]" a prohibition movement is started after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Bart is caught drunk on camera during the St. Patrick's Day parade]]. The movement discovers that alcohol has actually been banned in Springfield for over two centuries, but has never been enforced, and the government is pressured to agree to the prohibition. At the end of the episode, it's discovered that the prohibition law was repealed only a year after the original ban, [[StatusQuoIsGod and everything returns to normal]].