Tobacco saved the day

America wasn’t always a rich and powerful country. If we go way back to 1609 – 1610 we will be, in a time known as the starving time. That was when the colonists of Jamestown, a British settlement on the east coast of North America, died right and left. After their leader, Captain John Smith, left them they were vulnerable to the Powhatans. The Powhatans, a Native American tribe, unfortunately tried to kill them. Other than dying from Native Americans they also died from illness and starvation. The people of Jamestown would have died out if it wasn’t for tobacco.
In 1610 John Rolfe came to America with tobacco seeds from Trinidad. They were sweeter than the ones that the Native American taught them to plant, while Smith was still there. This saved their economy which saved them.
The tobacco was used for a popular hobby for the British called whiffing. Whiffing is when you take in tobacco by the nose. It was so popular that people imported it, which meant more money. That saved the colonists economy.
People came from Britain to farm tobacco, which made money. They had different jobs like farmers (that took care of food), and doctors (that took care of illness.) So many people came and so many tobacco plants were planted that a rule was passed that for every tobacco seed you plant you must plant a seed of corn.
Tobacco was a panacea as well as a hobby. People bought it as a medicine; though it did not work it made money for the Jamestown economy. A panacea is any cure that is thought to be a cure but has no proof to it like knocking on wood is said to be a cure of bad luck but there is no proof that it is one. Tobacco was said to be “a cure-all for headaches, toothaches, sores, and ailments of the chest and lungs. Some claimed it even could kill fleas!”
The Native Americans no longer attacked the colonists that gave them more power. They stopped so they could buy the tobacco from the colonists. The Native Americans believed that tobacco had “mystical Powers.” They threw tobacco into the water to make the waves calm. They also passed a pipe of tobacco around before a council meeting started.
The money all helped the colonists it made them a richer and powerful country. I mean they may not be as rich and powerful as America today but tobacco changed allot. You’ll have to wait until the Revolutionary war for America to be as powerful and rich as it is today.