Tobacco And The American Revolution

When tobacco was first brought to England it became a huge hit and soon there after, it spread to other parts of the world. At first it was only sold as a luxury to affluent city folk but eventually the manufacturing was revolutionized by the Bonsack machine which made it affordable for the general public. Ten years later, the American Tobacco Company was founded by James Buchanan Duke, who promoted cigarettes by using aggressive marketing and advertising techniques. The success of the cigarette was not only attributed to the witty business strategies utilized but also to the fact that young men in urban areas were smoking them and creating a trend. When World War 1 came about, smoking became an even bigger phenomenon. In fact, the military and governments organized a constant supply of cigarettes for the troops. At this point in time cigarette companies like Camel were bringing in tons of revenue. With all this new money, these companies were available to create bigger and better advertisements which resulted in more product consumers. In the early 1900’s this disposition became even more popular. In some parts of the world, up to 80% of the male populations were regular smokers. Smoking became an acceptable part of culture in almost all aspects of life; people did

By 1872, the family was producing 125,000Lb of tobacco on a regular basis. Duke started manufacturing cigarettes in 1881 and acquired the license to operate the first cigarette making machine. Duke sold 40% of American cigarettes in the market. In 1884, James moved to New York City and opened an office for their company. He advertised in posters, newspapers, magazines and he also included coupons inside the cigarette packets. To promote even more, James offered samples of his cigarettes to immigrants, hoping that they would come back as paying customers. By the time all of his promoting and advertising came to an end Dukes Company produced 45% of cigarettes sold in the United States. In 1889, James made the decision to join four major tobacco companies. American Tobacco was born and they controlled 90% of tobacco.

When a revolt occurred in American History, there were countless reasons that triggered the public eye to perform acts of violence or open confrontations to the government or a famous ruler. To be more specific, the Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the most famous uprisings in the 1670s and the outcome was being defeated. Nathaniel Bacon, who was a Virginia settler, instigated the issue and wanted to start a rivalry towards the Native Americans. William Berkeley, who was the Governor of the Virginia Colony, was very easy-going about the situation and wanted no tension towards the Native Americans. Bacon believed that the Native Americans was invading Jamestown’s territory area, and he wanted Berkeley to take action by advancing better security. Since nothing was being done on Berkeley’s side of the bargain, Bacon took it upon himself and initiated his opinions to the community. Bacon informed other settlers, servants and slaves to oppose against the Native Americans. Even though this rebellion was about fighting over property, it sparked a lot of additional motives within a one-year period. The revolt had countless cause/effects, and diverse civil rules and beliefs between Berkeley and Bacon. In the 1600’s, events like culture clashing and land rights played a huge role of the riot and molded the background to the Bacon’s Rebellion. Also, the importance of the rebellion encouraged affective outcomes like the Declaration of the People and it becomes one of the first rebellions in the American Colonies.

The people of England then traded with the Dutch, increasing demand for tobacco (Pecquet 471). Sir Walter Raleigh also contributed to the introduction of smoking tobacco in America and to the English queen, Elizabeth I (Cotton 2-3). The settlers of Roanoke Island smoked tobacco and soon presented the idea of smoking tobacco in court which became a new trend (3). Later on, as the demand for tobacco rose, more labor was needed to supply enough to satisfy the tobacco requirement ("The Growth of the Tobacco…" 3).

Slavery in America evolved from indentured servitude to a slavery system, consisted of kidnapped Africans, because of Bacon’s Rebellion. The Bacon’s Rebellion was started by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676 when white settlers desired to move west near the Appalachian Mountains, which was claimed by the Native Americans. With the desire to claim the land, they had a buildup of anger and altercations with the Native Americans who controlled the land by inhabiting it from coast to Appalachian Mountains. The House of Burgesses, or the government, tried to prevent conflict with the Native American people as best they could. However, Bacon still led white and African American men to the Native American land to claim it. He also had support from indentured servants who wanted rights such as voting and civics. Bacon’s men trudge through Jamestown and set it on fire. This represents that the people are rebelling against the government due to weak Indian policies. One of the many consequences rebels faced were executions from Sir William Berkeley, the governor of the colony, who was one of many that tried to prevent Nathaniel and his men. The following from virtualjamestown.org provides a list of those that were executed during Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia. For example the list states, “One Johnson, a stirer up of the people to sedition but no fighter.” This means that this individual is getting the people riled up but when it comes to the act of fighting, he takes no part in it. Another example being, “One Hall, a Clerk of a County but more useful to the rebels than 40 army men--that dyed very penitent confessing his rebellion against his King and his ingratitude to me.” This execution was powerful because Sir William Berkeley eliminated an individual who directly told him that he did not respect him. This man’s execution was significant because he was an important member of society that equivalated to army men.

Tobacco was in crude form since the early 1600s, and was mainly used for pipe-smoking ,chewing tobacco and snuff. In the early 1800s, is when cigarettes began to become widely popular in the United States. The fact that tobacco was bad for human health was not known around the time European had proscribed it to the Native Americans. At this time the physicians thought it would be an effective medicine. Around the 20th century is when they found that smoking can cause extreme health effects. In the 1930 is when a researcher in Cologne, Germany made the connection between smoking and the causation of cancer. A Doctor by the name of Raymond Pearl reported that people who smoke do not live as long as individuals who do not smoke. In 1944, the

In addition to the American Indians’ discovery of the tobacco plant, the farmers of the Virginia Colony undoubtedly changed tobacco forever. In 1660, English factories were stocked to the brim with tobacco which caused the product’s price to drop immensely. The colonists

Throughout the time of the Roanoke catastrophe and the hardships of Jamestown, tobacco made its grand introduction as America’s newest cash commodity that would allow success to flourish in Virginia, with a permanent English presence. Tobacco was formally popularized by a man named John Rolfe in the year 1610 and became the top resource that helped the future of this colony thrive. Tobacco did all of this by turning an

The economy of the southern colonies, particularly in the Chesapeake region, reflected the rise and fall of the demand for tobacco.

The 1600’s was a period of time where the American colonies began to form solid sovereign states. In an effort to find profitable resources that can be used to send back to Europe, one Virginia colonist John Rolfe started experimenting with tobacco in 1612 seeing how well it fared in the Southern soil which inevitably yielded favorable results. Upon this discovery, the tobacco industry led its engines at full steam ahead. In 1615, an estimated 2,000 pounds was exported which grew over the next 14 years to 1.5 million pounds (Lawson, 44). This rapid increase was a result of poor immigrants coming from Europe under the

Tobacco has been around in the world for over 2.5 million years. It was not until a few hundred years ago when the tobacco industry decided to put these crops into use and conjure up tobacco products for the community. A popular tobacco product in society is cigarettes, as they are cheap and simple to use. As long as one is over eighteen, acquiring cigarettes is a straightforward process for a reasonable price, albeit the sin tax. It was not until recently when cigarettes became widely controversial due to the plant containing nicotine, an addictive drug to the body. Aside from containing nicotine and other hazardous chemicals to the body, cigarettes also cause a whole host of health implications

Tobacco was not a brand-new invention of the times. The Spanish held somewhat of a monopoly on tobacco in the European markets and Native Americans had used it for medicine for thousands of years. The first tobacco seeds of the Jamestown colony were imported by English colonist John Rolfe “who in 1612 obtained Spanish seeds, or Nicotiana tabacum, from the Orinoco River valley” (Salmon). It arrived in the English colonies in 1612 at Virginia because Jamestown was originally established by the British as a settlement for trade with the Indians. To compete with Spanish traders who were dominating the tobacco trade, Rolfe brought over tobacco seeds from the West Indies to be grown in the Jamestown colony. The colony and its’ economy grew rapidly

Tobacco had an effect on the colonies in many different ways. In colonial Virginia, tobacco was it’s most successful cash crop. The tobacco that the first English settlers encountered in Virginia tasted bitter and dark to the English. In 1612 John Rolfe obtained Spanish seeds, Nicotiana tabacum, from the Orinoco River valley. These seeds when planted at the bottomland of the James River, produced a still dark, but milder leaf. This became the European standard for tobacco.

The Spanish and Portuguese word tobacco comes from Tiano, the Awakan language of the Caribbean. The N.Tabacum plant is no longer grown in the wild because it has been so long cultivated. Tobacco originated in Virginia but is now mainly grown in Russia, India and Turkey. The usage of Tobacco is actively practised by approximately 1.1 billion people and up to one third of the adult population. Statistics of smoking show that the use of tobacco has either levelled off or declined in developed countries but still continues to increase in developing countries. After the mid-twentieth century tobacco became condemned as a health hazard and was eventually named as a primary cause for cancer as well as other circulation and repertory diseases. In July 2013 the W.H.O (world health organisation) estimated that tobacco caused approximately 5 million deaths per year through direct use and a further 600 000 from non smokers being exposed to second hand smoke (shs).

Cigarette smoking dates back to the early 19th century in Central America. The cigarettes were in the form of reeds and smoking tubes. People like the Mayas and the Aztecs could smoke during religious rituals. Among the