Sunday Laws Culture Wars
The culture clash between established citizens of the United States and the new German Immigrants was so significant, it would spark over a decade of debates discussing morality and cultural preservation. The previously established U.S. citizens on the whole believed strongly in the sanctity of the Sabbath day, which Biblically is when God rested during the creation of the earth. Abstinence from labor and leisure were requirements for most citizens, and church attendance was heavily recommended. The violation of this holy day of rest was considered to be immoral, disgusting and downright satanic. German and Irish immigrants, on the other hand, held Sundays in high regard as days of drinking and social gatherings. A common German sentiment was that maintaining their cultural heritage was of the utmost importance, and abiding by the sabbath, while important for them as protestants and Catholics, didn’t hold power over their social bonding. Through a series of “Sunday Laws”, brave citizens tried to end the scourge of Sunday drinking, citing a rise in alcohol purchases on Sundays from German sellers, and tying that rise to an increase of accidents and deaths on the same day. Making it a safety concern was one of the few ways these “prohibitionists” could stop Sundays drinking, as the separation of church as state meant that those laws couldn’t be made on the grounds of religious motives. The article took a very anti-German and anti-Irish stance on Sunday laws, and believed that stopping alcohol consumption on Sundays would improve the morality and safety of communities around the U.S. The article took pretty racist overtones when addressing how Germans and Irish people were destroying the moral fiber of communities and were making them unsafe places to live. The author praised the closing of German Wards, where they could sell alcohol on Sundays, and glowingly reviewed public figures who took stances against German Sunday drinking.
