In early America, tobacco cultivation instigated a process of cultural exchange between European colonists and Native Americans. Tobacco farming techniques used by the natives were observed and refined by John Rolfe, an English settler who had married the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of the Tsenacommacah territory. Colonists took notice of tobacco as an herb revered for its healing properties, bearing the imagined potential of preserving the body and alleviating diseases. They cultivated tobacco in service of the greater interests of the Virginia Company.
In early colonial Virginia, tobacco's worth as crops to be sold on the European market was so great that it was viewed as a form of American currency, more commonly used in pedestrian trade than gold, silver or wampum. Since this crop yielded revenues of thousands of dollars per year, it was planted to the virtual exclusion of other crops, including food stuffs. Colonists not only paid for goods and necessities with tobacco, but they also satisfied the payment of fines with tobacco. For this reason, exports of tobacco to England mushroomed from 60,000 pounds in 1622 to over 20,000,000 pounds per year by the end of the 17th century.
An initial scarcity of labor complicated the cultivation of tobacco in colonial Virginia. In response to the soaring demand of this crop, the colonists circulated advertisements in England for manual workers to toil in the fields. However, this labor force was later replaced with a system of indentured servitude, whereby workers would contract to fulfill seven-year obligations as servants in America in exchange for their transatlantic passage and provisions such as lodging, food and clothing during the terms of their indenture.
Such a system of servitude sharply favored the interests of the colonists, rather than those who agreed to become their servants. "An odd assortment of individuals drawn from all classes and walks of life was coaxed, tricked, or coerced into signing up," according to John Van Houten Dippel, author of "Race to the Frontier: 'White Flight' and Westward Expansion." Close to 1700, this labor arrangement gave way to the importation of African slaves, a less-costly solution that sustained the Virginia colony throughout ensuing decades.
The Virginia colony stood apart from other regions of early America, due to the wealth of its agricultural resources. Unlike New England, a northern region which branched off from Virginia's earlier settlement, Virginia afforded colonists with an abundance of flat and fertile land. George Mason University Professor Charlie Grymes explains that, during Virginia's early colonial period, there were "many more acres under cultivation on Virginia's farms compared to New England farms," despite the fact that tobacco "yields per acre were lower."
Eventually, with the introduction of slave labor, agricultural production was more efficiently managed. More substantial revenues followed, which sparked competition throughout the colonies. The Virginia Inspection Acts of 1730 regulated the quality of Virginia's tobacco output, making it more prized on overseas markets. Alarmed by Virginia's control of the market, Maryland passed its own Inspection Acts in 1747.