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    Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy"
    Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy"
    Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy"
    Ebook101 pages1 hour

    Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy"

    By G. Melvin Herndon

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 15, 2013
    Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy"

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      Book preview

      Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy" - G. Melvin Herndon

      The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tobacco in Colonial Virginia, by Melvin Herndon

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      Title: Tobacco in Colonial Virginia

      The Sovereign Remedy

      Author: Melvin Herndon

      Release Date: November 1, 2008 [eBook #27117]

      Language: English

      Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

      ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA***

      E-text prepared by Mark C. Orton

      and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

      (http://www.pgdp.net)

      Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklets

      Editor—E. G. SWEM, Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary

      COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS: JOHN M. JENNINGS, Director of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, Chairman. FRANCIS L. BERKELEY, JR., Archivist, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. LYMAN H. BUTTERFIELD, Editor-in-Chief of the Adams Papers, Boston, Mass. EDWARD M. RILEY, Director of Research, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., Williamsburg, Virginia. E. G. SWEM, Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. WILLIAM J. VAN SCHREEVEN, Chief, Division of Archives, Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia.

      Price 50¢ Each

      PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

      GARRETT and MASSIE, INC., Selling Agent, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

      TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA

      The Sovereign Remedy

      By Melvin Herndon

      Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation

      Williamsburg, Virginia

      1957

      COPYRIGHT©, 1957 BY

      VIRGINIA 350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

      CORPORATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

      Jamestown 350th Anniversary

      Historical Booklet, Number 20

      TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA

      The Sovereign Remedy

      Tobacco was probably first brought to the shores of England from Florida by Sir John Hawkins in 1565. Englishmen were growing it by the 1570's, and after the return of the daring Sir Francis Drake to England with a large quantity of tobacco captured in the West Indies in 1586, the use of tobacco in England was increased substantially. By 1604 its consumption had become so extensive as to lead to the publication of King James' Counter Blast , condemning the use of tobacco; nevertheless, six years later the amount brought into Great Britain was valued at £60,000.

      Some of the colonists were probably acquainted with tobacco before they landed at Jamestown and found the Indians cultivating and using it under the name of uppowoc or apooke. However, it was not until 1612 that its cultivation began among the English settlers, even in small patches. Previously their attention had been centered entirely on products that could be used for food. Captain John Smith wrote that none of the native crops were planted at first, not even tobacco.

      The story of tobacco in Virginia begins with the ingenious John Rolfe. He was one of the many Englishmen who had come to enjoy the fragrant aroma and taste of the imported Spanish tobacco; and upon his arrival at Jamestown in May, 1610, Rolfe found that tobacco could be obtained only by buying it from the Indians, or by cultivating it. There seems to have been no spontaneous growth then as now. Owing to the frequent unfriendly atmosphere between the colonists and the Indians, Rolfe probably decided to grow a small patch for his own use. He also had a desire to find some profitable commodity that could be sold in England and thus promote the success and prosperity of the settlers and the London Company. Driven by these two motives John Rolfe became the first colonist to successfully grow tobacco, the plant that was to wield such a tremendous influence on the history of Virginia.

      Nicotiana rustica, the native tobacco of North America, was found to be inferior to that grown in the Spanish Colonies. Botanists state that Nicotiana rustica had a much greater nicotine content and sprouted or branched more than that cultivated today. William Strachey, one of the first colonists, gave the following description of the native plant grown in 1616:

      It is not of the best kynd, it is but poore and weake, and of a byting tast, it growes not fully a yard above the ground, bearing a little yellowe flower, like to hennebane, the leaves are short and thick, somewhat round at the upper end....

      In 1611 Rolfe decided to experiment with seed of the mild Spanish variety. He persuaded a shipmaster to bring him some tobacco seed from the Island of Trinidad and Caracas, Venezuela; and by June, 1612,

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