[1][2] Within five years there were 2,220 local chapters in the U.S. with 170,000 members who had taken a pledge to abstain from drinking distilled beverages, though not including wine and beer; it permitted the medicinal use of alcohol as well.
[4][5] The society benefited from, and contributed to, a reform sentiment in much of the country promoting the abolition of slavery, expanding women's rights, temperance, and the improvement of society.
Possibly because of its association with the abolitionist movement, the society was most successful in northern states.
After a while, temperance groups increasingly pressed for the mandatory prohibition of alcohol rather than for voluntary abstinence.
The American Temperance Society was the first U.S. social movement organization to mobilize massive and national support for a specific reform cause.