Tobacco in Colonial Virginia
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia
• The success of
tobacco as a cash
crop transformed life
in the Virginia colony
and encouraged
slavery.
• Cash crop – A crop
that is grown to sell
for money rather than
for use by the
growers.
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia
• Tobacco dominated
Virginia’s colonial
economy for several
reasons.
– Virginia had plenty of
farmland on which to
grow it.
– The arrival of
Africans provided
labor to grow it.
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia
– England and the
rest of Europe were
willing to pay a lot
of money for
tobacco.
– People raising
tobacco made lots
of money!
(Tobacco became
known as green
gold!)
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia
• The economy of the
Virginia colony
depended on agriculture
as a primary source of
wealth.
• Tobacco quickly became
the most profitable
agricultural product.
– Tobacco was sold in
England as a cash
crop.
The Effects of Tobacco
on the Virginia Colony
• The successful
planting of tobacco
depended on a
reliable (steady) and
inexpensive source of
labor.
The Effects of Tobacco
on the Virginia Colony
– Large numbers of
African men, women,
and children were
brought to the colony
against their will to
work as slaves on the
plantations.
– The Virginia colony
became dependent
on slave labor, and
the dependence
lasted a long time.