Rorabaugh, William J. The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition. New York: Oxford U, 1979. Print.

Caitlyn Hickey
University of Massachusetts Amherst

In The Alcoholic Republic, W.J. Rorabaugh describes the excessive consumption of alcohol in America in the 18th and 19th century and its effects on American culture and everyday life. Rorabaugh is the first author to examine the drinking patterns in young America and relate them to the ways of changes of society. In this text Rorabaugh argues that “It was not so much the use of alcohol that worried them - they all drank to some extent - as its excessive use” (Rorabaugh 5). Alcoholism was so prevalent in America because of how readily available it was. Anyone from a wealthy slave owner to a poor slave could afford to get drunk. …show more content…
He was able to show the delicate balance between whiskeys production and consumption and the outside factors that affected it which included the increase in new technology, the temperance movement, and the national economy. Between 1780 and 1830 America underwent several rapid changes and Rorabaugh argues there is a strong correlation between the anxiety this created amongst Americans and their drinking patterns. Finally Rorabaugh claims that binge drinking is like an extension of the American spirt of independence.Rorabaugh, William J. The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition. New York: Oxford U, 1979.