American Tobacco and European Consumers.

One of the only reasons that the colonies in the Chesapeake were successful was because of the large tobacco industry. Many people used tobacco on a very regular basis, which meant that there was a large demand for tobacco. At first, in 1603 there was not at much tobacco available as there was a demand for it, which made the cost of tobacco be very high. Only around 25,000 pounds of tobacco was imported from New Spain to England in 1603. But by 1700, around 40 million pounds of tobacco was imported from New Spain to England. The huge tobacco supply made it so that tobacco could be purchased for very cheap. This made tobacco more and more common in the New Spain as well as countries over in Europe.

Not everyone was very fond of tobacco though such as King Charles I and King James I. King James I declared that smoking was "A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs..." Not many people agreed with this statement, actually, many people believed the complete opposite of this statement. Doctors praised tobacco as a wonder drug, one in particular claimed that "...this precious herb is so general a human need [that it is] not only for the sick but also for the healthy." Basically tobacco completely altered European culture as well as American culture. Tobacco was the one cash crop that was responsible for the success of the colonies in the Chesapeake.