of the product of one man's labor
were recorded as so many pounds or acres of tobacco plus provisions.
And had the plantations not been generally self-sufficient, the
frequently extremely low prevailing tobacco prices would have made the
agricultural economy even less profitable.

Tobacco was a completely new agricultural product to most, if not all,
of the English settlers at Jamestown. There were no centuries of vast
experience in growing, curing, and marketing to draw upon. These
problems and procedures were worked out by trial and error in the
wilderness of Virginia. Tobacco became the only dependable export and
the colony was exploited for the benefit of English commerce. This
English commercial policy, plus other factors, caused the Virginia
planter to become somewhat of an agricultural spendthrift. For nearly
200 years he followed a system of farming which soon exhausted his
land. Land was cheap and means of fertilization was limited and
laborious. By clearing away the trees he was able to move north, south,
southwest, and west and replace his worn-out fields with rich virgin
soil necessary to grow the best tobacco.

While struggling with the problems involved in producing an entirely
new crop about which they knew little or nothing, the colonists also
had to feed themselves, deal with their racial problems, and maintain a
stable local government as they continually expanded in a limitless
wilderness. Out of all this chaos grew the mother and leader of the
American colonies.

Tobacco penetrated the social, political, and economic life of the
colony. Ownership of a large tobacco plantation could take one up the
social ladder; many of the men responsible for the welfare of the
colony were planters, and everything could be paid for in tobacco. In
1620 the indentured servants were paid for with tobacco, the young
women sent to the colonists to become wives were purchased by paying
their transportation charges with tobacco. The wages of soldiers and
the salaries of clergymen and governmental officials were paid in
tobacco. After 1730 tobacco notes, that is warehouse receipts,
representing a certain amount of money, served as currency for the
colony.

The development of the inspection system with its chain of tobacco
warehouses hastened urbanization. Around many of these warehouses grew
villages and settlements; some of these eventually became towns and
cities. Richmond, Petersburg, Danville, Fredericksburg, Farm