Moral Reconstruction: Christian Lobbyists and the Federal Legislation of Morality, 1865-1920

Between 1865 and 1920, Congress passed laws to regulate obscenity, sexuality, divorce, gambling, and prizefighting. It forced Mormons to abandon polygamy, attacked interstate prostitution, made narcotics contraband, and stopped the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Gaines Foster explores the force behind this unprecedented federal regulation of personal morality — a combined Christian lobby.

Foster analyzes the fears of appetite and avarice that led organizations such as the Women’s Christian...