All of these are good points, but I would add greater emphasis on the
adverse health effects of heavy consumption of distilled beverages, which
were being produced in unprecedented abundance.  In my "Benjamin Rush's
Educational Campaign against Hard Drinking" (Am J Public Health, 1993;
83:273-281) I argue that Rush's famous pamphlet was a major force in the
launching of the temperance movement.  He was concerned about educating
the public about the hazards of heavy drinking and correcting erroneous
notions about the presumed beneficial effects of drinking.  Rush's
"Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind"
was widely reproduced as a standard temperance text.  Although Rush
correctly identified a number of alcohol-related diseases, he also wove a
spiritual and economic themes into his document.  But it was
fundamentally a health argument that he was making.