Bacon's Rebellion: Rough Draft #3

When the colonists needed tobacco during Bacon's Rebellion they looked to the Virginians to meet their needs.

Bacon's Rebellion

Tobacco production and trade

Tobacco production and trade by the Virginians increased during Bacon’s rebellion. The cause for increased production and trade was the popularity of tobacco during the rebellion. Virginians had to work long days in temperatures that were at times miserable to keep up with the tobacco fields. They had hoes to help them with the work of cutting the tobacco, most of the time that was all they got for tools. During this time colonists and Europeans increased the amount of tobacco they smoked, making more work for the Virginians. “A demanding crop, tobacco required close attention and a great deal of hand labor year-round.” (P. 77 Roark). The increase in production was a benefit for Virginians because they had to expand and make more tobacco, which meant larger profits.

The consumption of tobacco by colonists and Europeans was growing and growing every day. By the early 1600s the production of tobacco was increasing tremendously causing more labor for the Virginians. A great deal of money was being made for this ever so popular drug. Trading tobacco was an easy task in the 1600s because of the high demand and popularity by the Europeans and colonists. Once they got the ball rolling on producing tobacco it made it much easier to produce large amounts and trade to the Europeans and colonists.

The Virginians needed to make new land to plant more tobacco to meet the demands of the colonists and Europeans. Clearing was important to the procedure of producing tobacco on large fields. It was necessary to clear land before planting because there were other plants, trees, etc. that would prevent tobacco from growing. “Girdling brought sun-light to clearings but left fields studded with tree stumps, making the use of plows impractical.” (p.77 Roark). Clearing the land for new tobacco fields included cutting down trees and leaving the stumps, everything else had to go. “Like the Indians, the colonists “cleared” fields by cutting a ring of bark from each tree (a procedure known as girdling)” (p.77 Roark). Once they had more land they started planting tobacco; that they would later profit off of by selling it to the colonists and Europeans. “To plant, a visitor observed, they “just make holes (with a stick) into which they drop the seeds, “much as the Indians did.” (p.77 Roark). The process of planting tobacco was fairly easy and just required time.

Developing new land

The Virginians next step was to start developing new land to meet the tobacco needs of the colonists and Europeans. They achieved this by first, clearing fields of trees that in which the land was not being used and secondly planting tobacco seeds into holes that they made. The development of new land wasn’t hard at this time because many people didn’t have a problem with what they were using it for. It was only until the later days in which people had specific property lines, where they could only use the land inside that property.

Colonists and Europeans demanded more tobacco because it was popular and it was common for the upper class to smoke more tobacco. “Smoking was the most common form of tobacco consumption in the 1700s, and smokers needed far more than tobacco to light up. They needed pipes, and hundreds of pipe makers supplied them with millions of ceramic pipes.” (P.81 Roark) Tobacco users would often have their pipes and materials right next to or in bed with them while sleeping, so in the middle of the night if they got a craving they could just smoke right there. They smoked as much as they could and as many times a day they could; depending on if they could afford the amount they were smoking. In the 1700s tobacco materials were being made; mainly tobacco pipes. These were the most popular material to smoke with, and then came snuff and snuff boxes. Snuff changed the way people looked at tobacco because it gave off a different type of “high.” Snuff caused you to sneeze when you sniffed it through your nostrils; it also caused you to cough; which gave a pleasurable “high.” Many people turned to snuff when they found out that it was healthier than smoking tobacco and becoming more and more popular. Snuff was also an addictive drug that majorly affected everyone that smoked it.

They also believed that smoking tobacco and using snuff was good for their health, especially in large amounts. “Physicians praised it as a wonder drug. One proclaimed that “to seek to tell the virtues and greatness of this holy herb, the ailments which can be cured by it, and have been the evils from which it has saved thousands would be to go on to infinity…This precious herb is so general a human need (that it is) not only for the sick but for the health.” (P.80 Roark) During the 1700s and 1800s consumption changed the cost of tobacco. The sudden increase of consumption and popularity decreased the amount of money everyone had to pay. When the Europeans realized that more and more people were consuming tobacco, the cost went down, making it affordable to pretty much anyone. “The low prices made possible by bumper crops harvested by planters in the Chesapeake transformed tobacco consumption in England and elsewhere in Europe.” (P.81 Roark)

Present day tobacco production and trade

The profit of tobacco wouldn’t decrease if they sold more, even at a lower price. Tobacco production today is a much more unified system so to speak, we have machines doing most of the work and trucks delivering it to major dealers of tobacco. For example; grocery stores, gas station, and smoke shops. Production in the early 1600s was much like it is today; many of the way that tobacco was produced, we still follow the same steps to producing tobacco. “The steps include: 1) transplant production; 2) field growing; 3) harvest; 4) curing; and 5) marketing.” (http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/tobacco.html). They used these methods of producing tobacco in the 1600s and still do today; with just fewer hands.

Tobacco use today is different for some people because of the knowledge we know now. Smoking tobacco is not healthy and can give you a long list of diseases and cancers. For the people that smoke tobacco these days are so addicted to tobacco that they smoke almost an entire pack a day. Smoke people will smoke multiple packs depending on how hooked they are to the drug. Snuff is still popular to some people today; not as high in popularity as it was in the 1600s though. Many people tend to lean toward tobacco because it’s cheaper and easier to use. Tobacco today is very high in cost but that doesn’t stop people from buying it. Their addictiveness to the drug is no match for their wallets. Quitting this drug is not easy and can take very long to get unhooked; there are many methods of quitting that work for some people and don’t for other. The bottom line is tobacco is truly not healthy and a highly addictive drug that changed the life’s of Europeans and colonists during the 1600s through the 1800s.