Canning didn't become mainstream until after the Civil War.
Before that settlers and homesteaders had some other methods, like salting, pickeling, root cellars, etc... but they primarily focused on eating with the seasons and only preserved certain foods that they really needed to store year round like eggs for cooking, or maybe some fruit as a treat. Saurkraut was popular, and it also prevented scurvy over the winter.
Obviously some types of storage is needed to prevent starvation, but much of the canning we do today is done to mimic the year round availability of foods from the grocery stores.
I've read starvation in the South was a big factor in the North winning the war. Salt shortages caused huge problems as without salt people couldn't preserve pork or other meats. With the high humidity in the South dehydrating food was difficult and it didn't last very long. Canning had been invented but home canning didn't exist at that point. Interesting article on that and the substitutions people used:
Cooking During The Civil War | UNC-TV ? Life-changing television