Tobacco Cultivation in Colonial America
Jul 29, 2019 18:01:26 GMT -5
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 29, 2019 18:01:26 GMT -5
This was from an email I received from Briarworks today.
Tobacco Cultivation in Colonial America (Part I)
Upon first arrival in the New World, European explorers discovered and documented the use of tobacco amongst native Americans throughout the Caribbean and North and South America. Within a couple of decades of Columbus arriving in the Caribbean, tobacco use was expanding in Europe. Spanish explorers first introduced tobacco to Europe in 1528 and within just a few years a tobacco trade industry started to emerge in Europe. The French ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot, discovered tobacco while working in Lisbon and brought plants and snuff back to France in the late 1550s. Snuff quickly became popular amongst the French aristocracy and Nicot earned some amount of fame. Carl Linnaeus, known as the “father of modern taxonomy,” named the genus for tobacco Nicotiana in honor of Nicot.
Early cultivation and trade of tobacco was dominated by the Spanish as they maintained control of the areas best suited to cultivating the types of tobacco enjoyed by Europeans. The rapidly growing popularity of tobacco in Europe and the need for sustainable colonies in the New World made tobacco a very popular crop in the new colonies. Tobacco was directly responsible for the financial success of many colonies. As with many aspects of early American history, the burgeoning tobacco trade brought with it many negatives, including the displacement of many natives and a sharp increase in the trade of African slaves.
Throughout this period, political, trade, and military tensions between the European powers, especially England and Spain, began to intensify and the domination of the tobacco market by Spain was a significant contributor. England’s colonial presence in the Americas was significantly farther north than Spain and the naturally occurring tobacco used by Native Americans in the area were not popular with the English, who had grown accustomed to the sweeter varieties grown in the tropics. Sir Walter Raleigh is often credited with popularizing tobacco in England and while he sponsored the Roanoke colony in British held territory, most of his explorations were in South America, the likely source of his preferred tobacco.
Colonial trade, including tobacco, continued to give Spain an economic edge over England. A number of English businessmen saw the North American colonies as a way to undercut the Spanish monopolies on goods from the Americas. More on that next week.
Tobacco Cultivation in Colonial America (Part I)
Upon first arrival in the New World, European explorers discovered and documented the use of tobacco amongst native Americans throughout the Caribbean and North and South America. Within a couple of decades of Columbus arriving in the Caribbean, tobacco use was expanding in Europe. Spanish explorers first introduced tobacco to Europe in 1528 and within just a few years a tobacco trade industry started to emerge in Europe. The French ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot, discovered tobacco while working in Lisbon and brought plants and snuff back to France in the late 1550s. Snuff quickly became popular amongst the French aristocracy and Nicot earned some amount of fame. Carl Linnaeus, known as the “father of modern taxonomy,” named the genus for tobacco Nicotiana in honor of Nicot.
Early cultivation and trade of tobacco was dominated by the Spanish as they maintained control of the areas best suited to cultivating the types of tobacco enjoyed by Europeans. The rapidly growing popularity of tobacco in Europe and the need for sustainable colonies in the New World made tobacco a very popular crop in the new colonies. Tobacco was directly responsible for the financial success of many colonies. As with many aspects of early American history, the burgeoning tobacco trade brought with it many negatives, including the displacement of many natives and a sharp increase in the trade of African slaves.
Throughout this period, political, trade, and military tensions between the European powers, especially England and Spain, began to intensify and the domination of the tobacco market by Spain was a significant contributor. England’s colonial presence in the Americas was significantly farther north than Spain and the naturally occurring tobacco used by Native Americans in the area were not popular with the English, who had grown accustomed to the sweeter varieties grown in the tropics. Sir Walter Raleigh is often credited with popularizing tobacco in England and while he sponsored the Roanoke colony in British held territory, most of his explorations were in South America, the likely source of his preferred tobacco.
Colonial trade, including tobacco, continued to give Spain an economic edge over England. A number of English businessmen saw the North American colonies as a way to undercut the Spanish monopolies on goods from the Americas. More on that next week.
