This Week In Cigar History: December 17–23

On December 20, 1606, under a charter from King James I of England, the Virginia Company of London set sail three ships for its first expedition to North America seeking eventual passage to the South Seas (Pacific Ocean). Landing in the aptly named, marshy Jamestown, Virginia on May 14, 1607, the colonists quickly disappointed the distant English shareholders looking to reap quick gains from the New World’s rumored gold and silver hordes—by rapidly dying off from disease and a severe food crisis, later known as The Staving Time, 1609–1610.

Only 12 percent of the original colonists survived by 1611, despite the valiant efforts of former mutineer, later Council President, Captain John Smith. Luckily, relief came with the arrival of ships bringing fresh goods and new settlers, including agricultural experimenter John Rolfe in May 1610.

Rolfe obtained superior tobacco seeds from the West Indies despite the Spanish decree that outlawed the sale of seeds to non-Spaniards and punishable by death. Rolfe’s new tobacco was sweet tasting and more suitable for English tastes. His first shipment of Virginia tobacco to Europe, on June 28, 1614, was no doubt a joyous occasion, equal to his April 5th marriage to former captive, Pocahontas.

Over the next few years, more land and labor was devoted to the cultivation of tobacco than food, no doubt because it proved lucrative for the Virginia Company. Although this concern failed to win a monopoly in tobacco trade from the Crown, the English crave for smoking resulted in Virginian crop exports growing from 25 hundred pounds in 1616 to a total of 50 thousand pounds in 1628. Interestingly, this explosion in tobacco consumption was in spite of James I’s obvious distaste for the “stinking grass” and disapproval of a habit, “which was imitating the beastly manners of the godless and slavish Indians.”

news@doubledownmedia.com

12/17/07

NO COMMENTS YET

You must sign in to add comments.