Savages to the Left of Me, Neurasthenics to the Right, Stuck in the Middle with You: Inebriety and Human Nature in American Society, 1855–1900

Abstract

In the second half of 19th-century America, inebriety was defined as a disease of "civilized" life that affected the "better" classes of society. This formulation was based on the belief that the use of intoxicating substances was a perennial aspect of human nature that was distorted by the modern environment. Using a variety of medical and popular writings, this article explores the ways in which middle-class interpretations of the use of intoxicating substances were inextricably bound to ideas of human nature. Cravings for alcohol and drugs reflected the toll that progress had presumably wrought upon American minds and bodies even as the effects of intoxication seemingly revealed the primitive nature that remained.