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An 18th century illustration of the first Thanksgiving. Source: http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/24/thanksgiving-is-some-native-americans-day-of-mourning/ |
Native Americans
It is impossible to claim that European settlers were the
first to introduce Native American tribes to alcohol. While there was a form of
alcohol present before colonization took place, the alcohol was nowhere near
the equivalent of what the white men were drinking. Most of the small amount of
alcohol use came from the Southwestern part of the United States, and even
then, the alcohol content itself was very weak at only "(8%-14%)" (3)
and was typically only intended for "ceremonial purposes" (2) as
opposed to recreational enjoyment.
Tribal or primitive alcohols differed not just in alcohol
content, but in "lactic acid fermentation giving them a tangy and
sour taste, contain various additives such as honey or fruits, and vary in
viscosity from clear liquids, to soupy mixtures with suspended solids, to
pastes," (4).
Europeans
Colonists were typically more inclined to drink for
entertainment, and alcohol was also more commonplace. Alcohol soon
became incorporated into trade quickly, and "the tribes had little
time to develop social, legal, or moral guidelines to regulate alcohol
use," (2). The alcohol being traded would not have been the
low-content creations the tribes may have been accustomed to, but rather the
distilled and purified high-content beverage the colonists had mastered.
Binge drinking was a common practice amongst European
colonists, as they "encouraged rapid drinking to avoid the detection and
confiscation of alcohol, (2)" especially in periods of prohibition
and social distaste.