American Tobacco and European Consumers

Joshua Smith
Smoke and tobacco were a major aspect in the English colonies. The English had a substantial desire for tobacco and smoke, and often grew and purchased these crops. The Chesapeake colonies prospered well by selling the crops to the peoples on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean. But not all Europeans liked Tobacco. In fact, King James hated it. He noted the many negative attributes of tobacco, including the adverse health effects that it has on a person. He illustrated a relationship between tobacco and shameful lust, “barbarous” Indians, and sin. Smoking tobacco was a most common and customary activity at that time.
When tobacco was first brought to Europe by the Spaniards during the 1500s, physicians strongly believed that it was a powerful healing herb. Therefore, these physicians praised and condoned the used of the drug, which greatly influenced more people to start smoking. By the eighteenth century, millions of pounds of tobacco were being imported from the Chesapeake colonies. Tobacco was in high demand. It birthed an entirely new industry and significantly changed the habits and social life of the inhabitants of Europe. People began to buy and sell pipes, tins to hold the tobacco, flint and steel, pipe cleaners, and spittoons.