How Did Tobacco Help With the Independence of the Colonies?

Thomas Paine began his involvement in civic matters when he started attending the meetings of The Society of Twelve. This group met twice a year to discuss the issues of the town of Lewes in East Sussex. He was introduced to this group by a man named Samuel Ollive. Samuel Ollive was the owner of the snuff and tobacco shop where Thomas Paine lived (http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/paine_notes.html). I did not think Europe was known for it's tobacco which led me to believe the colonies had something to do with this. I then became interested with the tobacco trade between the colonies and England. I found out that tobacco was a huge export from America that was instrumental with the foundation of the colonies and later became a very important supplement for the American independence from England.

Due to the high demand of tobacco in Europe, the early Americans were able to ship massive amounts of tobacco to England. By the end of the eighteenth century, England had imported over 20,000,000 pounds of American tobacco. However the colonies were only allowed to trade with England because they were bound by the mercantile system. America had an endless supply of natural resources, especially tobacco, that were exported to England and then refined into finished goods. In return for the exportation of tobacco, England sent back the necessary supplies needed to survive in the new frontier and to colonize (http://www.tobacco.org/History/colonialtobacco.html).

Because tobacco was such an important cash crop for the colonies, it became a form of currency because it was something of value that everyone produced. When farmers had their crop inspected, they were given a paper that stated their quality of tobacco, how much, and where it was to stored. The farmers would then take that inspection paper to a merchant. Once the merchant had the slip, the tobacco was his property and would give credit to the farmer to purchase goods. The colonies even used tobacco for fines. People who let slaves have meetings were fined 1000 pounds of tobacco. Anyone who let a slave had a horse was fined 500 pounds. Virginia and Maryland had small taxes on every hogshead (1000 pounds of tobacco) that was exported which gave the government of each colony over nine thousand dollars a year.   Farmers even paid the parish in tobacco if they wanted to get married (http://www.tobacco.org/History/colonialtobacco.html).





Because the colonies could only trade with England, England had total control over the trade. The taxation from Britain was putting farmers in massive debt. They found themselves becoming deeper and deeper in debt with the British merchants. This called for a need for independence. When Benjamin Franklin received a loan from France to help with the war, the collateral was five million pounds of tobacco. George Washington advised the colonists that if they could send money to help the war effort, they should send tobacco. Tobacco ended up becoming the payment America used to pay off its debt (http://www.tobacco.org/resources/history/Tobacco_History18.html).