Carry Nation: A Personal Crusade Against Alcohol

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Carry A. Nation was obsessed with the prohibition of alcohol. She devoted most of her life to the cause, do to her tragic personal experiences, and excessive religious beliefs. She was relentless, even when it was realistic to minimize her involvement. Carry Nation was madly in love with Charles Gloyd in her early twenties. However, Dr. Gloyd became a compulsive drunk, and tragically died of alcoholism, within two years of their marriage, leaving her alone with an infant. Carry Nation was heartbroken by Dr. Gloyd’s death, and rushed immediately to care for his widowed mother. “The be with the mother of the man I loved more than my own life (Harvey, 36).” Her daughter later suffered from disfigurement and mental illness, which Carry Nation attributed to her late husband’s addiction to alcohol. The heartache over her first husband’s addiction provided Carry Nation with a reason to loath alcohol. She said, “The man I loved and married brought me bitter grief… I now see why God saw me a great lover...oh! …show more content…

She began to receive threats that her home would be set on fire. She was attacked by a saloon owner’s infuriated wife, and was physically harmed, after a dispute with the woman’s husband. There were even riots that demanded her lynched. Although she endured these traumatic disturbances, and ought to have lessened her involvement, she continued with her cause. She stated she was ready, if need be, to sacrifice her life, for the cause she believed in (Harvey, 75). Carrie Nation was constantly yearning to demolish a bar, even at the most unrealistic times. She had spent several nights in jail, and the exact same day of release, she begged to smash a saloon. Even when Carrie Nation no longer could arouse her followers she was not discouraged, she simply travelled to another town she felt needed her

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