The History of Tobacco
WHAT IS
TOBACCO
?
Tobacco is a green, leafy plant
that is grown in warm climates.
After it is picked, it is dried,
ground up, and used in different
ways. It can be smoked in a
cigarette, pipe, or cigar. It can be
chewed (called smokeless
tobacco or chewing tobacco) or
sniffed through the nose (called
snuff).
Nicotine
Nicotine is one of the more than
7,000 chemicals in cigarettes and
its smoke.
It is the chemical that makes
tobacco addictive or habit
forming. Once we smoke, chew,
or sniff tobacco, nicotine goes
into our bloodstream, and our
body wants more. The nicotine in
tobacco makes it a drug. This
means that when we use
tobacco, it changes our body in
some way. Because nicotine is a
stimulant, it speeds up the
nervous system, so we feel like
we have more energy. It also
makes the heart beat faster and
raises blood pressure.
Here are a few of the chemicals in tobacco smoke,
and other places they are found:
Acetone – found in nail polish remover
Acetic Acid – an ingredient in hair dye
Ammonia – a common household cleaner
Arsenic – used in rat poison
Benzene – found in rubber cement
Butane – used in lighter fluid
Cadmium – active component in battery acid
Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes
Formaldehyde – embalming fluid
Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid
Lead – used in batteries
Naphthalene – an ingredient in moth balls
Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel
Nicotine – used as insecticide
Tar – material for paving roads
Toluene - used to manufacture paint
History of
Tobacco
Tobacco has a long history in the
Americas. It is believed that
Tobacco began growing in the
Americas about 6,000 B.C. The
Mayan Indians of Mexico carved
drawings in stone showing tobacco
use. These drawings date back to
somewhere between 600 to 900 A.D.
Tobacco was grown by American
Indians before the Europeans came.
Native Americans smoked tobacco
through a pipe for special religious
and medical purposes. They did not
smoke every day.
Tobacco was the first crop grown for
money in North America. In 1612
the settlers of the first American
colony in Jamestown, Virginia grew
tobacco as a cash crop. It was their
main source of money. Tobacco
helped pay for the American
Revolution. George Washington also
grew tobacco.
History of
Tobacco
On October 15, 1492, Christopher
Columbus was offered dried tobacco
leaves as a gift from the American
Indians that he encountered. Soon
after, sailors brought tobacco back to
Europe, and the plant was being
grown all over Europe.
The major reason for tobacco's
growing popularity in Europe was
its supposed healing properties.
Europeans believed that tobacco
could cure almost anything, from
bad breath to cancer!
In 1632, 12 years after the
Mayflower arrived on Plymouth
Rock, it was illegal to smoke
publicly in Massachusetts! This had
more to do with the moral beliefs of
the day, than health concerns about
smoking tobacco.
History of
Tobacco
The first commercial cigarettes were
made in 1865 by Washington Duke
on his 300-acre farm in Raleigh,
North Carolina. His hand-rolled
cigarettes were sold to soldiers at
the end of the Civil War.
It was not until James Bonsack
invented the cigarette-making
machine in 1881 that cigarette
smoking became widespread.
Bonsack’s cigarette machine could
make 120,000 cigarettes a day.
The first brand of cigarettes were
packaged in a box with baseball
cards and were called Duke of
Durham. Duke started the first
tobacco company in the U.S and
named it the American Tobacco
Company.
Honus
Wagner
Legend has it that fewer
than 200 cards of the Hall of
Fame shortstop were
produced because Wagner
was not happy with the
card's producer the
American Tobacco Company
and the smoking message it
sent to children. Wagner,
however, smoked and
endorsed cigars, leading
some to believe he was
merely upset with not being
paid for his image. It has
sold to up to $2.8 million at
auction.
History of
Tobacco
The American Tobacco Company
was the largest and most
powerful tobacco company until
the early 1900’s. Several
companies were making
cigarettes by the early 1900’s. In
1902 Philip Morris company
came out with its Marlboro brand.
They were selling their cigarettes
mainly to men. Everything
changed during World War I
(1914-18) and World War II
(1939-45). Soldiers overseas
were given free cigarettes every
day. At home production
increased and cigarettes were
being marketed to women too.
More than any other war, World
War II brought more
independence for women. Many
of them went to work and started
smoking for the first time while
their husbands were away.
The Anti-Smoking
Campaign
In 1964 the Surgeon General of the
U.S. ( the chief doctor for the
country)wrote a report about the
dangers of cigarette smoking. He
said that the nicotineand tar in
cigarettes cause lung cancer.
In 1965 the Congress of the U.S.
passed the Cigarette Labelling and
Advertising Act. It said that every
cigarette pack must have a warning
label on its side stating “Cigarettes
may be hazardous to your health.”
By the 1980’s, the tobacco
companies had come out with new
brands of cigarettes with lower
amounts of tar and nicotine and
improved filters to keep their
customers buying and to help
reduce their fears. The early 1980’s
were called the “tar wars” because
tobacco companies competed
aggressively to make over 100 low
tar and “ultra” low tar cigarettes.
ECONOMICS
OF TOBACCO