W.J Rorabaugh, Annual Consumption of Alcohol Contained in All Alcoholic Beverages
per Capita, in U.S. Gallons (1979)

This line graph, included in W.J. Rorabaugh's book, The Alcoholic Republic, shows the annual per capita consumption of alcohol by Americans from 1770 to 1970. Between 1800 and 1830, alcohol consumption in the United States rose to a high of 4 gallons of alcohol consumed per person per year in 1830. To put that quantity in perspective, the average American today drinks about 2.5 gallons of alcohol per year. The sharp decline in alcohol consumption after 1830 was largely due to the Temperance Movement, a reform movement inspired by religious revival during the early 19th century that sought to limit or ban the consumption of alcohol. Reformers sought to inform the American people of the negative effects of alcohol, such as poor health, public disorder, financial distress, domestic violence and moral decay. The growing Temperance Movement would eventually lead to the 18th Amendment of the Constitution which was ratified in 1919 and banned the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcohol in the United States.