Gordon Wood on 1830s Religious Revivals & Alcohol Consumption

“It is not surprising that 1830 – the same year in which so many spectacular religious events occurred* – was also the year in which the Americans’ drinking of alcoholic spirits reached its peak: In 1830 Americans consumed nearly four gallons of alcohol per person, the highest rate of consumption in any year in all of American history.”

Source: Gordon S. Wood, “Evangelical America and Early Mormonism,” New York History 61 (1980), 356 – 86.

*In 1830, preacher Charles G. Finney arrived in Rochester, New York, the fastest growing community in the United States, and launched a revival that eventually shook the nation.  That year Mormonism was born and the Shakers had more members than at any other time of their history.