Britain in the New World

2d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade

Smoking Club
Among 18th-century Europeans, tobacco smoking indicated a high social class. In this 1793 etching by James Gillray, wealthy men are seen indulging in tobacco at what was known as a "smoking club."

Virginia's economic future did not lie with gold. There was too little gold to be found there. Looking for new ways to make its investments pay dividends, the Virginia Company of London began encouraging multiple ventures by 1618.

Jamestown settlers experimented with glassblowing, vineyard cultivation, and even silkworm farming. Despite efforts to diversify Virginia's economy, by the end of the 1620s only one Virginia crop was drawing a fair market price in England: tobacco.

Drinking Smoke

Tobacco was introduced to Europe by the Spanish, who had learned to smoke it from Native Americans. Despite some early criticism of "drinking smoke," tobacco became popular among the middle classes in England. Much of the tobacco smoked in England was grown in the West Indies.




– James I of England, A Counterblaste to Tobacco (1604)

John Rolfe
Known among his peers as "an ardent smoker," John Rolfe introduced the tobacco plant to the Virginia colony. This plant became the cornerstone of the Virginia economy.

John Rolfe thought that Virginia might be an outstanding site for tobacco growth. Early attempts to sell Virginian tobacco had fallen short of expectations. Smokers felt that the tobacco of the Caribbean was much less harsh than Virginian tobacco.

Rolfe reacted to consumer demand by importing seed from the West Indies and cultivating the plant in the Jamestown colony. Those tobacco seeds became the seeds of a huge economic empire.

By 1630, over a million and a half pounds of tobacco were being exported from Jamestown every year.

The tobacco economy rapidly began to shape the society and development of the colony. Growing tobacco takes its toil on the soil. Because tobacco drained the soil of its nutrients, only about three successful growing seasons could occur on a plot of land. Then the land had to lie fallow for three years before the soil could be used again. This created a huge drive for new farmland.

Indentured slave poster
Tobacco cultivation was demanding work. Signs such as this one were posted in England to round up more workers (indentured servants).

Settlers grew tobacco in the streets of Jamestown. The yellow-leafed crop even covered cemeteries. Because tobacco cultivation is labor intensive, more settlers were needed.

Indentured Servants

Indentured servants became the first means to meet this need for labor. In return for free passage to Virginia, a laborer worked for four to five years in the fields before being granted freedom. The Crown rewarded planters with 50 acres of land for every inhabitant they brought to the New World.

Naturally, the colony began to expand. That expansion was soon challenged by the Native American confederacy formed and named after Powhatan.

Virginia Statute for Runaway Slaves

"Whereas there are divers loytering runaways in the collony who very often absent themselves from their masters service, And sometimes in two or three monthes cannot be found, whereby their said masters are at great charge in finding them, And many time s even to the loss of their year's labour before they be had, Be it therefore enacted and confirmed that all runaways that shall absent themselves from their said masters service shall be lyable to make satisfaction by service at the end of their tymes by indenture double the tyme of service soe neglected, And in some cases more if the comissioners for the place appointed shall find it requisite and convenient. And if such runaways shall be found to transgresse the second time or oftener (if it shall be duely proved against them) that then they shall be branded in the cheek with the letter R. and passe vnder the statute of incorrigible rogues."

– Statute passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses, from William Waller Hening's The Statutes at Large, Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the First Session of the Legislature (March, 1642)

On the Web
The Culture of Smoke
Tobacco was a craze among men who wanted to be fashionable. There were even clubs devoted to smoking tobacco.
Prince George's County Tricentennial
Prince George's County in Maryland was established in 1696. It transformed rapidly (within 10 to 20 years) from open frontier to a settled community filled with many farms and families. And what was growing in the fields? Tobacco, of course. This page commemorates 300 years of Prince George's history and includes an excellent description of tobacco cultivation in these early colonial times.
The Plantation System and Indentured Servitude
Though the foundations of slavery in the South were laid by the first Virginia legislature, the first plantation system was developed without black slaves. This website, an educational series compiled by the Annenburg Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, addresses the institution of indentured servitude — the answer to Jamestown's labor shortage. An insightful look at this system of bondage, the article delves into the reasoning behind the system and the horrible conditions and consequences it actually created.
How can the weight of smoke be measured? Queen Elizabeth challenged Sir Walter Raleigh with this riddle. Read this brief account in "The life of Sir Walter Raleigh," written in 1854.