The Puritans   get a bad reputation in America--especially when it comes to alcohol. Mayflower, the first ship that came over from England to Massachusetts Bay, actually carried more beer than water.In fact the Founding Fathers of America liked a drink--Samuel Adams was a partner in his father's brewery, and Thomas Jefferson was famous for importing European wines. Early Americans took a healthful small drink for breakfast, whiskey was a typical lunchtime drink, ale   accompanied supper and the day ended with another drink called nightcap.Most Americans in 1790 consumed an average of 5.8 gallons of pure alcohol a year.In 1830, consumption reached 7.1 gallons a year and alcoholism was starting to have a serious influence on communities.Women and children might be in physical danger if the man of the house began drinking.If he became ill or lost his job through drinking, there was no social safety net to support or protect his family.Eventually, alcoholism was being treated as a disease. By the late 19th Century, support for Prohibition, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol, was powerful.The first arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol was in 1897.On 16 January 1919, Prohibition was set into law.However, by the 1930s when American economy was experiencing a hard time it was widely believed that making alcohol legal again would provide badly-needed jobs and taxes.So in February of 1933, Prohibition was endeD. Still, Prohibition had a great influence on alcohol drinking in this country.In 1955, Americans drank an average of 2.3 gallons of pure alcohol a year.The Prohibition movement was still quite strong after Prohibition ended and it led to a lot of local prohibition on alcohol. The American presidency has done a lot to rehabilitate alcohol and make it respectable again.Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama can all be seen on film drinking socially and making official toasts with international celebrities. The passage mainly talks about  _  .
the brief history of alcohol drinking in America American presidents' affection for alcohol drinking the Puritans' bad reputation in America the reasons why Prohibition came into law