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Tobacco in
Early Virginia
by
Mae Davenport Cox
Tobacco was
the life and soul of Virginia,
playing a significant role in
its history. Though the Indians
had been planting tobacco long
before the colonists arrival,
that tobacco was bitter and
sour. By 1612, a sweeter milder
tobacco was introduced and from
there tobacco became king.
Virginia’s
climate was ideal for tobacco
cultivation, and the colony’s
economic success relied almost
entirely on tobacco in the
1600s. Colonists — from the
small farmer with only a few
acres, to the huge plantation
planters with numerous acres and
slaves — staked their financial
well being on this golden
weed.
Tobacco was
the colony’s leading export. It
could be shipped more
economically than any other
crop, making the monetary return
greater than for any other crop
the colonists could produce. 1
Tobacco was
the medium of exchange during
[the seventeenth century] and
long thereafter, however the
vehicle of settlement was
anything acceptable to those who
were involved on any side of the
bargain or debt. 2
Tobacco
served as the currency for
Virginia. It paid for work done
and supplies bought. Court
records show fines meted in
pounds of tobacco. Tithes/taxes
were also assessed in this
manner. Young women’s passages
to America were paid with
tobacco. Voting was a colonial
man’s right and if he failed to
do so, he was fined 100 pounds
of tobacco. 3
Hogshead:
During Colonial
days, tobacco was shipped and
stored in hogsheads. A hogshead
was a very large wooden barrel
that measured 48 inches long and
30 inches in diameter at the
head. Fully packed with tobacco,
it weighed about 1,000 pounds.4
English Shipping Laws, Taxes
In 1660, the English Crown
enacted the Navigation Act
requiring all shipping trade
in the English Colonies be done
exclusively by English ships.
Plus, the act limited exports of
tobacco, sugar, and other
commodities to England or its
colonies.
The
Navigation Act of 1663
mandated most imports to the
colonies be shipped through
England and on English ships. In
1673, England, through the
Navigation Act of 1663,
created the office of customs
commissioner in the colonies to
collect taxes (duties) on goods
passing between plantations
Colonists
were most unhappy with England’s
sanctions; however, it took
about a hundred years before
their dissatisfaction led to the
Revolutionary War.
1 Tobacco
in Colonial Virginia, The
Sovereign Remedy, by Melvin
Herndon, 1957.
2 Tobacco in Early Virginia,
by Paul Drake; November 8,
2008 at VA-Roots List Serve.
3 The Upchurch Story, by
Olive A. Morgan, 1971, page 18;
no source cited.
4 Information about hogsheads
found at Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead. |
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Prices of tobacco varied
throughout Virginia,
county by county, just
as did the taxes on it.
These prices are but a
general picture of
tobacco prices during
Michael’s years in
Virginia:
Price
Year
per lb
1638
2p
1639
3p
1640
12p
1641
2p
1642
2p
1644
1½p
1645
1½p
1649
3p
1655
2p
1656
2p
1657
3p
1658
2p
1659
2p
1660
2p
1661
2p
1662
2p
1664
1½p
1665
1p
1666 1-1/5p
1667
½p
1676
1½p
1682
1½p
1683
2p
p =
pence
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