American Tobacco and European Consumers

After the first few tough years the early Chesapeake settlers caught a break in the form of tobacco. The only tobacco that had ever been imported to Europe was small amounts brought home by the Spanish settlers. Since so little was known about tobaccos negative effects, many people scrambled to get their hands on this new product. It soon became a highly sought after product in Europe, breathing life into the stumbling economy in the colonies. Once they were able to grow and import more tobacco, more people were able to afford it. And as we all know, most people who use tobacco become addicted. Now there were large amounts of Europeans who "needed" something that only the settlers could provide them. The tobacco boom, followed up closely by sugar, coffee, and chocolate caused a huge rise in the "New World" economy as well as the number of addicted Europeans.