TOBACCO: THE SOVEREIGN HERB From its early beginnings as the
first profitable crop in the New World to today's popular cigar
bars and class action lawsuits against industry giants, tobacco
has held a prominent, if controversial, role in our nation's
history. John Rolfe first experimented with the plant in the
Virginia soil in 1612 and soon had an easy commodity to ship to
England to meet the high demand. By 1630 tobacco exports to
England climbed to 500,000 pounds and by the end of the century
exceeded 20 million pounds. Tobacco became so plentiful and
integral to the economy that it was sometimes used as currency
in the colonies. However, planters in the Chesapeake area were
faced with several obstacles. Because it's a high-maintenance
crop, tobacco played an instrumental role in the growth of
slavery in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states. Furthermore,
the plant depleted the soil, forcing planters to diversify and
rotate crops frequently. Tobacco can be, and was, used in
various forms in its notorious hist