Why were women active in the crusade against alcohol?

They saw how alcohol created hardships in the home and destroyed families. They also opposed saloons, centers of political deal-making from which they usually were banned.

The crusade against alcohol was a protest by women, in part, of their lack of civil rights. Women could not vote. In most states women could not have control of their property or custody of their children in case of divorce. There were no legal protections for women and children, prosecutions for rap were rare, and the state-regulated "age of consent" was as low as seven. Most local political meetings were held in saloons from which women were excluded. At the end of the 19th century Americans spent over a billion dollars on alcoholic beverages each year, compared with $900 million on meat, and less than $200 million on public education.