"Wartime consumption of beer, wine, and spirits by civilians and soldiers in both North and South inflected debates over alcohol's effects on the individual body as well as the body politic. While drunkenness was a clear vice that threatened the war effort on both sides of the conflict, alcohol nevertheless was integral in military culture and medical departments for keeping soldiers healthy and fit for service. Bever shows how over time, the idea spread that sobriety was an essential trait of good, patriotic men, but this ...
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"Wartime consumption of beer, wine, and spirits by civilians and soldiers in both North and South inflected debates over alcohol's effects on the individual body as well as the body politic. While drunkenness was a clear vice that threatened the war effort on both sides of the conflict, alcohol nevertheless was integral in military culture and medical departments for keeping soldiers healthy and fit for service. Bever shows how over time, the idea spread that sobriety was an essential trait of good, patriotic men, but this left Civil War veterans (many of whom continued to drink) outside the culture of acceptable masculine behavior at war's end"--
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