Distilled alcohol (rum and later whiskey) served a vital function in the agrarian economy of the pre-Civil War United States. The virgin soil west of the Appalachian Mountains gave farmers crop yields four times what could be expected from the poor soil of the east coast. However, the bountiful yield of the American West presented its own problems. Farmers grew more than they and their families could ever hope to consume in a year, and, cut off from trade with the east by the Appalachians, were unable to ship their products to a more profitable market. Grain farmers could, however, convert surplus grain into distilled spirits, thereby multiplying the value of their crop yields. Spirits, unlike grain, became more valuable with age and could remain profitable even after the long haul across the Appalachians to the eastern markets.

hi wedge55!
(vector_black is distilled)