Alcohol and Teetotalism

At the time of European exploration and settlement of the United States, Native Americans had few alcoholic beverages and drank fresh water, herb tea, sofkee (hominy porridge), and soup. (Caribbean natives knew how to grow and ferment the juice of pineapples, and there may have been a little weak corn beer in what are now the southwestern states.) The native beverages surprised the Europeans, who at home and on ship drank ale, wine, or (regionally) cider with every meal—men, women, children, and babies. In Europe most urban water sources were dangerously polluted, and people who drank plain water became ill.