After 1836, when the American Temperance Society adopted total abstinence in its platform, there was scarcely a Protestant preacher on the Western Reserve who had not taken the pledge. The lesser stimulants were likewise abused. Tobacco was called a “nerve-prostrating, soul-paralyzing drug, a fleshly, ungodly lust.” Coffee was deplored as an excitant to amorousness, and tea-drinking was thought to be as bad as toddy-guzzling.
