Alcoholism was recognized as a disease more than two hundred years ago. In 1785 Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first physician-general of Washington's Continental Army, wrote an essay on "the effects of ardent spirits," calling intemperance a disease and an addiction. Throughout the nineteenth century, physicians considered intemperance a disease. Opposition to the disease concept was widespread, however, especially among those who advocated a moralistic view of alcoholism. The temperance movement, for example, espoused that alcoholism could be cured through personal dedication or as part of a commitment to God.
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