In America in the 1760s, alcohol started to cause problems such as poverty, unemployment, child abuse, and domestic abuse. At the time the average American drank three times as much as present-day Americans. Alcohol was so ingrained into American culture that drinking occurred at barn raisings, baptisms, funerals, and elections. Doctors even recommended whiskey, cider, rum and beer over muddy or still water. Even though alcohol has been a part of nearly all of human history, it was never a major problem until this time period because distilled spirits did not yet exist, and the problem did not reach America at a large scale until the 1760s when higher quality small-batch stills were brought with Scottish and Irish immigrants.
