Role of Tobacco in Kentucky History
Tobacco existed in Kentucky long before the establishment of the commonwealth Kentucky. Native Americans; such as the Shawnee, utilized tobacco medicinally and ceremonially. European settlers brought it with them to central and, eventually, western Kentucky, and until the late 1920s, Kentucky produced more tobacco than any other state. Kentucky remained the largest burley and dark tobacco producer, and ranked second, in total pounds produced, to North Carolina.
Aside from recreational and ceremonial use, some Native American tribes and European Americans remedies involved tobacco, including pain–easing salves, fighting labor pains, using smoke for colic and asthma, and chewing to soothe toothaches (Campbell). In 1964, the US Surgeon General released its first report regarding smoking hazards. Later reports offered specific warnings about tobacco use, including heart and
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For two years, beginning in 1905, masked men known as "Night Riders" raided communities around the state, most notably in Western Kentucky. They burned buildings, and destroyed fields and machinery in order to coerce hesitant farmers into joining them. They even beat and murdered non–participating farmers to intimidate others! The government finally dispersed the ATC’s monopoly in 1911.
During World War I, prices rose with the growing popularity of blended cigarettes, but dropped soon after. Kentucky burley farmers responded with an initially successful Burley Tobacco Growers Co–operative Association that was inactive by 1926. The Great Depression worsened the situation, costing some farmers their land! Work programs and legislation provided some relief. The New Deal introduced the federal tobacco program (strengthened through subsequent legislation), which stabilized prices. Farmers raised yearly quotas in exchange for "price supports" (minimum price per
Due to the fact that the colony of Virginia had a dominant skill, the cultivation of tobacco, which was introduced by John Rolfe in the year 1611, Virginia had much success. Tobacco was an enumerated good, which was beneficial because eventually, the Navigation Acts favored the colonies that had enumerated goods (a good that the colony specialized in). The tobacco cultivation began the year after the period known as the “starving time” in Virginia. “Our ordinary food was but meal and water so that this…little relieved our wants, whereby with the extremity of the bitter cold frost…more than half of us died” (Doc 6). John Smith wrote this article 17 years after the foundation of Virginia.
Throughout the time of the Roanoke catastrophe and the hardships of Jamestown, tobacco made its grand introduction as America’s newest cash commodity that would allow success to flourish in Virginia, with a permanent English presence. Tobacco was formally popularized by a man named John Rolfe in the year 1610 and became the top resource that helped the future of this colony thrive. Tobacco did all of this by turning an
This introduction to Kentucky history is a collaboration between the state's leading historian, James C. Klotter, and educational consultant Freda C. Klotter. In five compact chapters, they outline major influences and developments of the frontier, statehood, Civil War, industrial, and modern periods. Seven other chapters are thematic, focusing on Kentucky government, regions and regionalism, agricultural and material culture, commercial transformation, literature and music, and demography. Occasional sidebars document the lives of well-known and anonymous Kentuckians to illustrate economic, social, and cultural themes. A Concise History of Kentucky will be useful to many readers new to the state.
Tobacco, also known as Nicotiana tabacum named after Jean Nicot; it was used as a medical treatment for migraine headaches during that time and as a secondary in recreational use. In the surgeon general’s 1964 report on “A Counter-blaste to Tobacco,” the
In 1792, Kentucky was made the first state west of the Appalachian mountains. It was founded by the paleo-Indians, Archaic, Woodland, Adena, Mississippian, and Fort Ancient cultures. But, there was no Indian possession of land at that time. Also, Kentucky was officially added to the union on, January 29, 1861.
1. Historical background to Tobacco – Early American Indians – Columbus – Introduction to the Western World.
Tobacco had an effect on the colonies in many different ways. In colonial Virginia, tobacco was it’s most successful cash crop. The tobacco that the first English settlers encountered in Virginia tasted bitter and dark to the English. In 1612 John Rolfe obtained Spanish seeds, Nicotiana tabacum, from the Orinoco River valley. These seeds when planted at the bottomland of the James River, produced a still dark, but milder leaf. This became the European standard for tobacco.
Tobacco, Smokes, Cancer Sticks, Chew, Dip, whatever you want to call it, has been poisoning the innards of individuals since the days of the prehistoric Mayas of Mexico at around 600 to 900 A.D. This tobacco craze would resume in the society of the American Indians and later to the European settlers. In the early seventeenth century, tobacco was the chief cash crop of America’s first colony, Jamestown Virginia. This crop would continue to flourish in throughout history. By the early 1900’s, The American Tobacco Company was the leading and most influential tobacco corporation. The game completely changed at the time of the two World Wars however. Soldiers began receiving free cigarettes and the industry began targeting women as potential costumers as they were gaining new rights and liberties in society at this time. In 1964, the cigarette empire began to see its decline when the Surgeon General of the U.S. wrote a report about the dangers of cigarette smoking. After this statement by “America’s doctor”, legislation did everything in their power to detour people form purchasing these harmful products. They have gone as far as to make tobacco companies label “caution” on their products. Tobacco companies have recently been having trouble selling their
On 2nd November 1492, Christopher Columbus, the captain of the Santa Maria, came across the island of Cuba. Columbus sent two men in a small boat to explore the island. When they arrived back they told the strange story of people with burning sticks in their mouths (Simkin, 1997). During the next few years, European explorers discovered that people all over America smoked tobacco. These Indians believed that chewing or smoking tobacco protected them from a variety of different diseases. Some European explorers, frightened that they might catch these local diseases, also began to smoke tobacco. When these men went home they took large supplies of tobacco with them (Simkin, 1997). In 1940 the Tobacco industry figures showed that more than half
Tobacco has a long history in the Americas and date back to somewhere between 600 to 900 A.D. Native American Indians smoked tobacco through a pipe only for religious and medical purposes. Following, European’s immigration to North America, tobacco was rapidly spread around the globe (Jacobs, 1997) due to addictive properties of the chemical, Nicotine present in plant Nicotina tobacum (Boffetta et al., 2008). Only the mode of delivery has changed. In the eighteenth century, snuff was prominent; the nineteenth century was the age of the cigar; the twentieth century saw the rise of the manufactured cigarette, and with a greatly increased number of smokers. At the dawn of the twenty first century approximately one third of adults in the world,
The years following the release of the first Surgeon-General’s report on tobacco use in 1964 have recorded successes and setbacks for public health officials. The report closely followed a release from the tobacco industry in 1954 titled “Frank Statement to Tobacco Users” which basically said that there was no cause for alarm. It rebutted the findings from a study on mice which showed the link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer. It insisted that there was not enough proof or evidence to state that there was a direct link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer.
For many generations, tobacco had been used in healing ceremonies and as offerings to the spirits. In 1492, there are stories of Native Americans giving gifts of tobacco to Christopher Columbus and of him throwing it away as weeds. Some of his men did take up smoking and spread the habit around the world. Following the arrival of Europeans tobacco became very popular to trade and gave the Native Americans a form of currency.
Tobacco has been around since the 17th century and was the first crop grown for money in North America. In 1612, the settlers of the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia grew tobacco as a cash crop. Tobacco helped pay for the American Revolution against England. By the 1800’s, many people had begun using tobacco in different ways. Some chewed it, others smoked it in a fancy pipe, and some even hand rolled a cigarette or cigar. Most people only smoked about 40 cigarettes a year. It wasn’t until 1865 that the first commercial cigarettes were made by Washington Duke on his 300 acre farm in Raleigh, North Carolina. He made hand rolled cigarettes and sold them to the soldiers at the end of the Civil war. In 1881 cigarette smoking became wide spread due to James Bonsack’s invention of the cigarette making machine. Bonsack’s machine could make 120,000 cigarettes a day. Because of this machine, he created a business with Washington dukes son, James Duke. They built a factory and made about 10 million cigarettes the first year and around one billion cigarettes only five years later. They packed the cigarettes in a box with baseball cards and called them Duke of Durham. They were known as the first brand of cigarettes. Buck Duke and his dad started the first tobacco company in the U.S. and names it the American Tobacco Company. The American Tobacco Company became the largest and most powerful company until the early 1900’s. By then, several companies had started making
Tobacco is a green seventeen leave plant that grows natively throughout North and South America. It’s related the potato, peppers, and the poisonous nightshade. One ounce of tobacco contains about 300,000 seeds! The Americans started to grow Tobacco during 6,000 B.C. In the early 1 B.C the American Indians started using tobacco in religious and medical practices. People us to believe that tobacco cured-all of their problems. It was used as dress wounds, pain killer, and chewing tobacco solved toothache. In October 15, 1492 the American Indians gave Christopher Columbus dried tobacco as a welcome gift. After Christopher Columbus left, he brought back tobacco to Europe; which then grew all over Europe. The reason tobacco was grown so much was because it was believed to have healing properties; that could cure anything from ripe breath to cancer. In 1571 a Spanish doctor named Nicolas Monardes wrote a book on medicinal plants and that tobacco could cure 36 health problems. In 1588 Thomas Harriet thought smoking a dose a day was a good idea. In the 1600’s tobacco was “as good as gold,” it was mostly used as money. During that time some people realized the dangerous effects of smoking. In 1610 Sir Francis Bacon tried to quit, but said it was really hard. Meanwhile in 1632, 12 years after the Mayflower had arrived at Plymouth Rock, smoking became illegal in the state of Massachusetts! In 1760, a New York company named Pierre Lorillard produced tobacco, cigars, and
When tobacco was first brought to England it became a huge hit and soon there after, it spread to other parts of the world. At first it was only sold as a luxury to affluent city folk but eventually the manufacturing was revolutionized by the Bonsack machine which made it affordable for the general public. Ten years later, the American Tobacco Company was founded by James Buchanan Duke, who promoted cigarettes by using aggressive marketing and advertising techniques. The success of the cigarette was not only attributed to the witty business strategies utilized but also to the fact that young men in urban areas were smoking them and creating a trend. When World War 1 came about, smoking became an even bigger phenomenon. In fact, the military and governments organized a constant supply of cigarettes for the troops. At this point in time cigarette companies like Camel were bringing in tons of revenue. With all this new money, these companies were available to create bigger and better advertisements which resulted in more product consumers. In the early 1900’s this disposition became even more popular. In some parts of the world, up to 80% of the male populations were regular smokers. Smoking became an acceptable part of culture in almost all aspects of life; people did