What Tobacco Brides And Why Was It So Important?

The Jamestown brides program, also known as “tobacco brides,” was a program that attracted young, single women from England to the Jamestown Colony of Virginia between 1620-1624. The primary purpose of this program was to encourage these women to marry male colonists in the colony. The women were offered incentives to marry and were traded into marriage for a bride price of 150 pounds of best leaf tobacco. The tobacco income received by the Virginia Company for the bride auctions was the first time the company turned a profit in Jamestown.

In 1617, tobacco exports to England totaled 20,000 pounds, then more than doubled the following year, reaching 1.5 million pounds by 1630. In 1621 and 1622, two additional shipments of “Tobacco Brides” arrived in the colony. The Virginia Company set a bride price of 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of tobacco to be paid by a man to the company who married one of the women.

The most important cash crop in Colonial America was tobacco, which grew in the wild prior to this time and was cultivated by the indigenous peoples as a stimulant. All 90 of the women who became wives did indeed become wives. The attire worn by the bride and groom during the wedding ceremony often carries cultural and symbolic significance.

In conclusion, the Jamestown brides program played a significant role in the colonization of North America and the development of the United States.

What was the significance of the tobacco brides?

Around 90 women made the decision to travel to Jamestown in 1619. In 1620, ship The Marmaduke added 13 more women to Virginia.6 The next year, 57 more women were shipped.7 By 1622, roughly 144 women had arrived to Jamestown.89 The ages of the women varied; among the youngest of the women was Jane Dier, who was around fifteen to sixteen years old when she departed. One of the oldest women was Alice Burges who was 31 or 32a.8 Many tobacco brides came to America fleeing hardship, but many also suffered once in America.9 Despite their hardships, these women paved the way for the women of the future by escaping the assigned maid role and instead gaining more economic freedom and independence than was given to other women of this time, leading to some to dub them the Founding Mothers.4.

Maids from the Marmaduke (departed August 1621)10.

• Susan Binx, aged 20
• Margaret Bordman, aged 20
• Anne Buergen
• Allice Burges, aged 31-32 (see footnote)
• Jane Dier, aged 15
• Catherine Finche, aged 23
• Mary Ghibbs, aged 20
• Ann Harmer, aged 21
• Audrey Hoare, aged 19
• Ann Jackson
• Lettice King, aged 23
• Ursula Lawson
• Ann Tanner, aged 27

Why was tobacco important to the British Empire?

At the time, tobacco and sassafras were hot commodities in England. People called these plants “vegetable gold,” and the high price they commanded convinced the English to found yet another colony in North America. In 1607, the English established Jamestown in Virginia.

In 1959, nine Russian hikers mysteriously died on a snowy trek known as the Dyatlov Pass incident. Has science finally cracked the case?

After a tenure dispute, engineer Valery Fabrikant murdered four colleagues. So why is he still allowed to publish scientific papers?

World famous 19th-century chemist Justus von Liebig quickly became infamous for his role in the killing of four starving infants.

Why was tobacco so important to the Jamestown colony?

… because no other colonial crop made such efficient use of cleared lands, provided as great a return for the labor, and could be as easily marketed.

Tobacco had other advantages. Its cultivation rapidly depleted the soil of nutrients. Although this may seem to be a strike against it, early settlers quickly discovered that virgin Virginia soil was too rich for successful harvest of traditional European crops, especially cereals. Tobacco broke down the fields and made food crops more productive.

There was a ready market for tobacco in England. Unlike many crops, tobacco was a good traveler, and, barring leakage of the ship or bursting of the hogsheads, would usually arrive in fine condition even after weeks or months at sea.

Another advantage of cultivating tobacco was, although the crop was labor intensive, the labor need not be skilled. Unlike glassblowing or flax and silk cultivation, the tasks associated with tobacco were simple and could be quickly mastered by children or adults.

Why did the Virginia Company import 150 tobacco brides to Jamestown beginning in 1620?

Historyedit. 17th and 18th centuriesedit. British coloniesedit. In 1620, the Virginia Company recruited mail-order brides for the Jamestown colony, sponsoring the emigration of 140 women in hopes of reducing desertion by the settlers and to avoid the men marrying women from the local Native American tribes. They were sometimes referred to as tobacco wives, because each male colonist who married a mail-order bride had to reimburse the company for her passage at a cost of 120 pounds of good leaf tobacco. The women who were brought over by the company were free to marry whomever they chose, even men who were too poor to pay their passage fee. The average age of these brides was 20.24: 14-22.

French coloniesedit. France took a similar tactic in the mid-1600s, recruiting and sponsoring approximately 800 women to emigrate to New France. These mail-order brides were known as the filles du roi (French: filles du roi or filles du roy in the spelling of the era).25: 9, 102 The New France colony followed the same patterns as Jamestown: male settlers returned home or married Native American women and left the colony to live with their wives tribes. For the filles du roi, the government not only paid to recruit and transport them, it also provided each woman with a dowry of at least 50 livres. As with the tobacco wives of Jamestown, the filles du roi had the right to choose their partners and could refuse any suitor. Genetic studies of French Canadians have suggested that millions of people in Canada today are descended from the filles du roi.24: 30-41.

When New France began its Louisiana colony in 1699, it requested more mail-order brides. These were known as Pelican girls (for the first ship that brought women to the colony, Le Pélican). This program was not successful; the women had been recruited with false descriptions of the struggling colony and had many complaints about their treatment. When women in France heard of the terrible conditions and of how the Pelican girls had been treated, the government was unable to recruit many more mail-order brides. France had to resort to shipping over thieves and prostitutes, known as correction girls.24: 51-54.

What was the importance of tobacco?

The tobacco plant has been an important part of magical and religious rituals by Native American peoples for many centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. Products made from the leaves were applied externally as poultices for boils or skin infections and sores, as well as for bruises and sprains.

References:. Byron MJ, Baig SA, Moracco KE, Brewer NT. Adolescents and adults perceptions of natural, organic and additive-free cigarettes, and the required disclaimers. Tob Control. 2015 Dec 1. pii: tobaccocontrol-2015-052560. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052560. Epub ahead of print.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco Use. cdc.gov/WinnableBattles/Tobacco/index.html. Retrieved December 16, 2015.

Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I. Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years’ observations on male British doctors. BMJ 2004; 328: 1519–28.

In which colonies was tobacco important?

Virginia. The development of tobacco as an export began in Virginia in 1614 when one of the English colonists, John Rolfe, experimented with a plant he had brought from the West Indies, Nicotania tabacum.

The tobacco colonies were those that lined the sea-level coastal region of English North America known as Tidewater, extending from a small part of Delaware south through Maryland and Virginia into the Albemarle Sound region of North Carolina (the Albemarle Settlements). During the seventeenth century, the European demand for tobacco increased more than tenfold. This increased demand called for a greater supply of tobacco, and as a result, tobacco became the staple crop of the Chesapeake Bay Region.

Virginiaedit. The development of tobacco as an export began in Virginia in 1614 when one of the English colonists, John Rolfe, experimented with a plant he had brought from the West Indies, Nicotania tabacum. In the same year, the first tobacco shipment was sent to England. The British prized tobacco, for it was a way to display ones wealth to the public. Only those of high status could afford the new product.

As tobaccos popularity grew, it became the savior of the colonies. Due to the rough climate, the colonies were not able to produce other crops necessary for survival. With no crops, they lacked an income and a food supply, so the colonists took the opportunity to begin growing tobacco. The Virginia climate and land structure was perfect for tobacco plantations. As Virginia tobacco rapidly gained popularity abroad, it became more difficult to encourage the production of diverse crops or other commodities in the colony. Land was readily available and quick profits could be made on tobacco.

Who were the tobacco brides of Jamestown?

The first group of ninety women arrived in 1620. When the women arrived in Jamestown, they were sheltered and fed by the company until they chose a husband. The women had total control over the decision of who to marry. Once a woman married, her new husband was required to pay the Virginia Company back for the cost of bringing the woman to the colony. The payment was originally 120 pounds of tobacco leaves. This led to the nickname “tobacco brides” for women who arrived as part of this program.

The following year, a second group of fifty-six women arrived in the Virginia colony. Almost all the “tobacco brides” married colonists. The program appears to have ended after two groups of women came to Virginia, maybe because there was no longer a strong need for brides in the colony. These women contributed significantly to the establishment of Virginia as a permanent settlement.

The drawing depicts women arriving in Jamestown and receiving a warm welcome from the male settlers of the colony. It was created over two centuries after the tobacco brides first arrived in Virginia and contains some historical inaccuracies. For example, it shows the men and women pairing up immediately, when it took weeks to months for women to decide who to marry.

What were the tobacco wives in Jamestown?

The Jamestown brides program attracted 90 women who came over in 1620 and another 56 who came over in late 1621 and early 1622. Wives of settlers arriving at Jamestown. Without these women—later known as “tobacco wives”—the Virginia Company was concerned that the 12-year-old colony wouldnt survive.

Why were tobacco brides sent to Virginia?

Without these women—later known as “tobacco wives”—the Virginia Company was concerned that the 12-year-old colony wouldnt survive. Unlike the Puritans who would soon settle in New England colonies with their families, the men in Jamestown didnt have families to keep them in the Americas permanently, says Marcia A.