Tobacco in Colonial Virginia Tobacco in Colonial Virginia

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 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.