Tobacco 16th Century

Tobacco in the sixteenth century What is baccy? The definition of baccy give plant is leaves of the tobacco plant desiccated and prepared for smoking or ingestion. For the slope settlers in Chesapeake tobacco was there way of surviving. During the sixteenth century a man planted tobacco in Virginia for the first time and tack it took well to the climate. Once the tobacco started emergence it needed ofttimes caution and great care by hand. Workers were needed around the clock to bunk to the crops. The settlers realized that tobacco could be there way to riches.The growing of tobacco not only helped the side settlers but also the English monarchy, ships men, and merchants. In 1612 John Rolfe planted seeds of tobacco plants that had been frame origin every(prenominal)y in the western United States Indies and Venezuela. The plants grew genuinely well and he started to experiment with methods of curing the leaf practise headway enhancing its flavor. Rolfe sent his first sh ipment of tobacco to London in 1614. after this it became clear to settlers that they could make a component in Virginia by growing tobacco. In 1617 the colonists made their first commercial shipment to England.When the shipments first arrived they proceeds was threateningly known but Sir Walter Releigh Helped to make tobacco smoking pop among the English. At first tobacco was sold at a very high price were only the wealthy could partake, but once the English colonist began to grow and ship an abundance of tobacco the price became much lower and tobacco was an indulgence for many. The shipping of tobacco to England saved the Jamestown settlement. in the lead growing tobacco they couldnt even grow enough give to feed themselves.Once the colonist started growing tobacco it became very clear to them that it could be the road to a fortune. The revenue coming in from exporting tobacco kept Chesapeake alive and growing. The king saw all the wealth be made and so he put a tax on imp orting tobacco giving him a major financial interest. In the end the exporting of tobacco provided a livelihood for many, a fortune for a few, and valuable revenue for ships men, merchants, and the English monarchy. In order to make all the tobacco they shipped to England to gain their wealth the tobacco plantations needed workers.A hire man works on tobacco plantations could make two or three times more in Virginia than in England. Most of the workers on the plantation were indentured servants. These people have their trip to Virginia paid for by someone else then pay the person back by working in the tobacco empyreans for four to five years. The indentured servants were largely young, male, and had no skills in the job force. They were thrown on a field and told what to do. Growing tobacco is a very time consuming job. initial the fields had to be cleared by hand.Like the Indians the colonist clered fields by excludeting a ring of bark from each tree, this was called girdling , killing the tree. therefore colonist would use heavy hoes to till the fields. Holes were then made with sticks and the tobacco seed was placed in each hole. Once the plants matured they were cut down and thrown in a pile to wilt. After the leaves dried a little in the piles they were striped from the stock of the plant and suspended from poles in drying barns or just out in the fields. pull round after the leaves were dry, they were seasoned, packed up in casks, and shipped off.During all of this work the men, women, boys, and girls from the ripen seven and up would smoke tobacco in order to depart the time. As farming went on the owners of the fields realized that the indentured servants were gravid to control and would soon be free of their contract to them. They first found ways to add time to their contract but found it hard and people were living through their time served. So Between 1670 and 1700 the Chesapeake tobacco plantations discovered break ones backry and slow ly made the transition from servant to striver fixing the problem for the moment.Just when the colonists of Chesapeake thought they would be starving and have no money for the rest of their being John Rolfe showed up and planted tobacco seeds. The seeds grow well and the colonist learned how to make money from all the hard work they were putting forth. They also found cheap ways of getting workers. Pay for an indentured servant and have them work for up to 7 or 10 years or have slave that dont ever leave the plantation. The tobacco business thrived for everyone mire in it.Over thirty-million pounds of tobacco was exported from Virginia to England helping make Chesapeake thrive as a colony. Bibliography The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century A accusative History of Virginia, 1606-1700 /Edition 1byWarren M. Billings The American Promise, A compact history, ordinal edition, volume 1 to 1877, by Roark, Johnson, Cohen, stage, Lawson, and Hartmann WWW. fcps. edu/GunstonES/gunstone s/speciaLprojects/Jamestown1612. htm Gale Encyclopedia of Biography John Rolfe