There were a few temperance movements in the history of the United States. In the early 1800s, the Great Awakening swept through America. The idea of a morally perfect society was being pushed to the forefronts of the public's mind. This moved the public toward total alcohol abstinence. In 1826, the evangelical American Temperance Society was founded, and by a decade after its conception it claimed 1.5 million members. Though, it wasn't just religious groups that called for Temperance. Businesses and merchants had pushed for their employees to stay sober, in a hope that it would push America along during its industrialization. (Though, the American Temperance Society had made a report that claimed that fully dry workforces were 25% more efficient). By 1845, Americans had cut their average alcohol consumption and cast off their pre-modern drinking culture. But none of this was done by legislation at first. Most of it was the result of rousing sermons and preaching to the population. However, eventually legislation was sought out. Maine would be the first, passing state wide prohibition in 1851, though after the mayor who pioneered the temperance legislation was caught selling alcohol out of city hall, and the problem of enforcement eroded optimism and the Civil War brought back the drinking culture. By the 1870s, most prohibitions had been repealed, and where they were not repealed, they were largely ignored.

Source: Morone, James A. Helfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History