Temperance is defined as abstinence from alcoholic beverages. During the Reformation Era this was a concept that continued to grow. During the early 1800s the production and consumption of alcohol slowly began to increase. Temperance emerged as a reaction against the popularity of drinking. In 1826, the American Temperance Society advocated total abstinence from alcohol. People in this period viewed drinking as an immoral and irreligious activity that ultimately led to poverty and mental instability. Many other people considered it a male indulgence. In the 1830s, growing numbers of workers joined the temperance movement with concerns about alcohol and job performance. By 1835 there were over 5,000 temperance societies affiliated with the American Temperance Society. As all the opposition groups formed, consumption began to decline in the late 1830s and early 1840s, and many states established restrictions or bans on the sale of alcohol. Prison reform was also an important issue. The conditions of these situations were terrifying. The inmates were treated horribly. Many inmates in prisons owed debt. Thousands of Americans had less than $20, but because they were in lockdown they were still unable to pay it back due to lack of work. Similar to prison treatment, the treatment of the mentally ill was no better. The well-known American activist for the indigent insane Dorothea Dix played a fundamental role in the reform of these prison and punishment centers. He hated the way people were treated, especially the treatment of mentally ill patients. In a facility where they were supposed to be cared for and not punished, people were locked in dirty, crowded cells. Dix prepared a report, a presentation and visited...... half of the document ......people in huge poverty, reducing the number of children born in these areas. For a woman to have the ability to terminate or prevent a pregnancy was an important thing. The famous nurse of the time Margaret Sanger noticed how women behaved and felt while going through the pain of an unwanted, unplanned pregnancy. He attempted to open one of the first clinics in New York, but it was closed 30 days later and put in prison. With this arrest, he gained national support and consensus, just what he needed to make another attempt at his dream. This time he was very successful, he founded the American Birth Control League in 1921 and in 1923 opened the Clinical Research Bureau which was the first medical examiner and first staff birth control service. This facility offered a wide range of services for both men and women, as well as offering training to students and doctors.