Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) planted apple seedling nurseries ahead of settlers. Seedling apple trees can take 5-10 years to start bearing apples, and having trees already started in a nursery saved precious time when establishing a new homestead.

The apples grown from seed were too bitter to eat, but fermenting them into hard cider changed the harsher acids into much more milder, flavorful acids and made a decent cider. Since apples had a much lower sugar content than grapes, the alcohol content was about half- 5 to 6%, and sometimes had to be fortified with raisins or honey to bump it up enough to retain spoilage.

It was considered a temperate drink, consumed by every member of the family in large quantities. Water in those days was suspect (and for good reason) and only those lucky enough to live by a fresh spring could drink it without worrying. Hard cider was a source of vitamin C, and the yeast from fermentation provided a source of animal protien on the meat-starved frontier.

Hard cider did have a more potent cousin in "applejack", made by allowing cider to freeze on the front porch, and repeatedly removing the ice until the resultant product has a high proof; this is what drew the ire of the temperance movement and dragged along its much milder cousin cider with it.