Tobacco colonies facts for kids

The tobacco colonies were special English settlements in North America. They were located along the coast, in a region called Tidewater. This area stretched from parts of Delaware south through Maryland and Virginia, and into the Albemarle Sound area of North Carolina.

During the 1600s, people in Europe really wanted tobacco. The demand for it grew more than ten times! Because of this, tobacco became the most important crop, or staple crop, in the Chesapeake Bay area.

The Colonies and Tobacco's Rise

This Cigar store Indian was made around 1750. It was used to advertise a tobacco shop in England.

Virginia: Where Tobacco Began

Growing tobacco for export started in Virginia in 1614. An English colonist named John Rolfe experimented with a tobacco plant. He had brought this plant from the West Indies. In the same year, the first shipment of tobacco was sent to England.

The British loved tobacco. It was a way for rich people to show off their wealth. Only those with high status could afford this new product.

As tobacco became more popular, it helped save the colonies. The climate was tough, and the colonists struggled to grow other important crops. They needed food and a way to earn money. So, they started growing tobacco. Virginia's climate and land were perfect for tobacco farms, called plantations.

Because Virginia tobacco sold so well, it was hard to get colonists to grow other crops. Land was easy to get, and tobacco brought quick profits.

Who Worked the Tobacco Farms?

Growing tobacco needed a lot of workers. It was a very demanding job. Many indentured servants came to Virginia and other colonies. They worked for several years to pay for their trip to the New World.

The first enslaved people arrived in Virginia in 1619. However, it took many years for slavery to become the main source of labor. Tobacco remained Virginia's most important farm export throughout the colonial period.

Over time, Virginia grew more and more tobacco. But between 1740 and 1770, before the American Revolution, Virginia's population grew faster than its tobacco production. This led to the colony starting to grow other things and develop different businesses.

Maryland: Another Tobacco Powerhouse

In 1634, another English colony, Maryland, was founded. It was also along the Chesapeake Bay. King Charles I gave the land to Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Maryland was meant to make money for Baltimore and be a safe place for Roman Catholics.

Just like in Virginia, tobacco quickly became Maryland's most important export. Some enslaved people worked on Maryland's plantations from the start. But slavery did not become widespread until after 1700. Before that, most of the work was done by indentured servants.

Maryland had many tobacco plantations but few towns. The Chesapeake Bay's geography made ports and roads less necessary. Ships could sail directly to plantation docks. They traded English goods for tobacco, and sometimes corn, which was also grown in Maryland.

North Carolina: The Third Producer

Virginia and Maryland grew the most tobacco. North Carolina was the third largest producer among the colonies. Tobacco farms in North Carolina were mostly near the coast. They were also close to the Virginia border. This area was good for tobacco because it was near the Albemarle Sounds.

Compared to the other tobacco colonies, North Carolina was less developed. It had no cities and very few small towns or villages.

Different Kinds of Tobacco

The colonies grew two main types of tobacco: Sweet-scented and Oronoco.

• Oronoco was rougher and had pointier leaves.
• Sweet-scented leaves were rounder and had finer fibers.

Oronoco was grown all over the Chesapeake Bay area. Sweet-scented tobacco was only grown along the Potomac, James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers. People in England preferred Sweet-scented tobacco because it had a milder taste. But the rest of Europe liked Oronoco more. This made Oronoco more profitable for plantation owners.

How Tobacco Connected Colonies to England

The tobacco colonies were part of England's economy. They had to follow the mercantile system. Under this system, England got natural resources and raw materials from the colonies. They turned these into finished products. Then, they sold them, often back to the colonies, to make a profit.

During the colonial period, the British did not want America to produce cotton. This was to protect their own businesses that made wool and linen. As a result, more tobacco was grown instead.

As the populations of the tobacco colonies grew, so did tobacco exports to England. Between 1622 and 1628, tobacco imports to England jumped from 60,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds. By 1639, it reached 1,500,000 pounds. By the late 1600s, it was over 20,000,000 pounds each year! In 1689, London exported over 5 million pounds of tobacco. This was worth a lot of money.