James Black (prohibitionist)
Encyclopedia
James Black became a leader of the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...

 in the United States after having a bad experience with alcohol intoxication, if not alcohol poisoning.

Black was born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, United States, south by southeast of Williamsport and north of Harrisburg. In the past, it was the commercial center for a fertile grain and general farming region. The population was 5,620 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union...

 to John Black and Jane Egbert Black. He married Eliza Murray in 1845.

Black was actively involved in establishing the Good Templars
International Organisation of Good Templars
The IOGT International is an international non-governmental organisation working in the field of temperance...

, a temperance organization. In addition, he co-founded the National Temperance Society and Publishing House
National Temperance Society and Publishing House
The National Temperance Society and Publishing House was founded in 1865. During its first 60 years, it published over a billion pages of literature in support of the temperance movement.Its three monthly magazines had a combined circulation of about 600,000...

 with Neal S. Dow
Neal S. Dow
Neal S. Dow , nicknamed the "Napoleon of Temperance" and the "Father of Prohibition", was mayor of Portland, Maine. He sponsored the "Maine law of 1851", which prohibited the manufacture and sale of liquor...

, another pioneering temperance leader. In its first 60 years, the publishing house printed over one billion pages. It published three monthly periodicals with a combined circulation of about 600,000. It also published over 2,000 books and pamphlets plus textbooks, flyers, broadsides and other temperance materials.

In 1869, Black and some of his friends founded the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...

. Three years later he was selected to run as the party’s presidential candidate. However, he won only 5,607 votes. Possibly one reason for the low vote he received was that the powerful Anti-Saloon League
Anti-Saloon League
The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their...

, under the direction of Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler was an American attorney and prohibitionist. Using deft political pressure and what might today be called a litmus test, he was able to influence many governments, and eventually the U.S. government, to prohibit alcohol.Wheeler was born in Brookfield, Ohio, to Mary Ursula...

, would not support third party candidates. The same was true of the influential Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

Black authored Is There a Necessity for a Prohibition Party?. (NY: National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1876) and Brief History of Prohibition and of the Prohibition Reform Party. (NY: National Committee of the Prohibition Reform Party, 1880).

Black died, according to his obituary in The New York Times, at his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 16 December 1893 of pneumonia. He was 70 years old.

Sources

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