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Americans drank heavily, for rum was cheap. In 1770 per capita consumption was 3.7 gallons of distilled spirits per year, or approximately seven shots a day, with the men consuming most of the quote for women and children. That 3.7 gallons does not include the beer or hard cider that colonists routinely drank in addition to rum, the most popular distilled beverage available in English America. Benjamin Franklin printed a "Drinker's Dictionary" in his ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' in 1737, listing some 228 slang terms used for drunkenness in Philadelphia.
Americans drank heavily, for rum was cheap. In 1770 per capita consumption was 3.7 gallons of distilled spirits per year, or approximately seven shots a day, with the men consuming most of the quote for women and children. That 3.7 gallons does not include the beer or hard cider that colonists routinely drank in addition to rum, the most popular distilled beverage available in English America. Benjamin Franklin printed a "Drinker's Dictionary" in his ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' in 1737, listing some 228 slang terms used for drunkenness in Philadelphia.
The sheer volume of liquor fell off, but drinking continued and men developed customs and traditions based on the tavern or saloon. By 1900 the 26 million American men over age 18 patronized 215,000 licensed taverns and probably 50,000 unlicensed (illegal) ones, or one per hundred men. Twice the density could be found in working class neighborhoods. They served mostly beer--about a quart of beer per day per man, and much more for the thirsty ones. The city of Boston (with about 200,000 adult men) counted 227,000 daily saloon customers.<ref> Kingston (1973) p 472-3</ref>
===Colonial America to 1800===
===Colonial America to 1800===