American Tobacco and European Consumers

Tobacco became almost a necessity in the English Colonies. They sniffed, chewed, drank, and even used tobacco for enemas. The reason that the tobacco had commercial value was because of the European desire for it. It was smoked by men, women, and I guess you can say children as well. Because it was so well-liked by majority of the English, the demand for tobacco supplies such as pipes, boxes, and strike sparks grew as well. It became clear to see that those involved in the tobacco would have large profit and become wealthy quickly. Although some hated it, for instances King James I. In A Counterblaste to Tobacco, King James declared that smoking was “A custome loathsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible… smoke of the out that is bottomelesse.” He reviled the “filthy smoke,” the stinking Suffumigation,” the “spitting,” the “lust,” the “shameful imbecilitie,” and the “sin” of tobacco.” Tobacco, whether people liked and agreed with it or not, helped shape the economy, culture, social life, and style of the English colonies.