what is the most important colonial product: alcohol, tobacco, or timber

Important Colonial Products: Alcohol, Timber & Tobacco
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Important Colonial Products: Alcohol, Timber & Tobacco
Colonialism is when a country fully or partially takes over control of another country politically for economic reasons. Europeans are known as the earliest colonizers while America which was referred to as the New World, became amongst the first victims of colonialism. As the colonialists moved to discover and set up their colonies, they introduced new products which were of social, economic or political importance for their survival. Among the important products introduced by the colonialists in the new world were tobacco, alcohol, and timber. Each of these colonial products had its unique importance to the colonies, but their importance ranged depending on how they contributed to the survival. What was the most important colonial product among the three? In order to answer this question, it is crucial to understand their history as well as their uses and their contribution to sustainability. Then, a general comparison of their importance is made thus making it easier to draw a conclusion.
Alcohol
Alcohol was an important commodity that during the discovery and establishment of colonies. During their sail in search for New World, sailors would pack more alcohol than water in their luggage. This was mainly due to the belief that unlike water which would be easily polluted, alcohol was healthy as it would not be contaminated. In addition, they believed that analgesic and it increased their energy to work well for long and that it also increases their life span.

By 1657, alcohol had become a paramount commodity in the new world such that rum distilleries were emerging all over the New World, America. The emergency of distillery had brought about by the colonists who had introduced the art of producing rum locally instead of importing it from the Caribbean.
Timber
This commodity in colonies can be dated back to 1606 after the establishment of the first colony in the New World, Virginia. After the British had depleted the timber resources in their home country and at the risk of their people freezing out, King James I signed a charter allowing British companies to set sail in search of this important commodity and import it back to England. Immediately the first British company, The London Company set foot their new land, they established a colony and started sending timber to their home country which was an overwhelming relief and received gratitude from King James I.
Timber was also of very importance to the colonialists as it had many uses both in the colonies and in their mother country. Among the importance of timber was that; it was used as a source of chemicals such as tannin for tannin process, potash made from the ash of burned timber which is used in making soaps and glass, heated further potash was turned into pearl ash which is a more pure form of potassium nitrate and was used for dying and making clothes. Timber was also used to support everyday life to construct houses, furniture, household items such as well as bowls and spoons and a major source of fuel. It was used in the building of ships as well as making a variety of manufactured goods and small machines. Economically timber was used as an export and import item and therefore was an important source of income. Timber was very important such that the first construction of a small town began with sawmill for the production of timber and then the rest followed.
Tobacco
In as much as timber was important to colonies such as Virginia, still, the colonialists in places such as Jamestown had a hard time in surviving and most were dying or were suffering miserably as a result of unsuccessful farming. This was mitigated when an Englishman John Rolfe discovered that tobacco, a monopoly product of Spain in Europe could grow successfully in Virginia. It brought new hope for the colonies as the exportation of products to Europe boosted income and yielded massive profits that they would use to import whatever commodities they required for their survival and to improve their lives making it a leading item in commerce.
Apart from a source of income, tobacco was also a source of employment. This is because, as the tobacco production increased and the market became risky and unpredictable, tobacco merchants started hiring agents who would receive consignments, store them and later trade them on behalf of the merchants at a commission. In the colonies, tobacco was valued highly and could also be used as a currency for settling taxes and fine issued by the government. In addition, this product was a source of revenue to the colonial governments as the authorities would set levies to be paid by each hogshead which in the case of Virginia was 2 shillings which translated to about 20 cents, generating revenue of $4,541 in 1680 and $9,082per year during the period between 1758 – 1762. Colonialists had become so much dependent of this product for their survival such that they invested greatly in buying slaves who would use as a source of labor in the tobacco plantations making slavery both politically and socially accepted. It is even said that instead of building homes and barns, the tobacco planters used their investments to buy slaves and therefore ensure their continued production.
Contrarily, the planters went even further to bribe native land owners to lend them their land for the production. This was because the product depleted the land fertility of where it was produced for three years leaving the land barren, and therefore the planter had to move to a more fertile place. In fact, it can be argued that without tobacco farming, the colonies wouldn’t have prospered economically as the colonies would have been left with subsistence farming which had proven to be unsuccessful. The negative effects brought by tobacco cultivation such as exhaustion of land fertility, slavery, and displacement of natives were more than compensative in the economic viability of the product.
In conclusion, compared to alcohol and timber, tobacco was the most important colonial product. This is because the colonies primarily relied on their product for their survival starting from the individual homestead that used it as a source of income to colonial authorities who used it as a source of revenue. Its importance can also be seen in the way colonists moved to protect its production where the colonists embraced slavery and exportation where the colonial authorities intervened to prevent distortion of its quality by introducing tobacco trade laws.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliography
Economic Aspects of Tobacco during the Colonial Period 1612-1776.” Tobacco.com Website. last updated on 2016. http://archive.tobacco.org/History/colonialtobacco.html.
In-Depth Articles. “Colonial America’s Pre-Industrial Age of Timber and Water.” Building Community: Medieval Technology and American History, n.d.
Middleton, Arthur Pierce. Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era. Michigan: Mariners’ Museums, 1953.
Purvis, Thomas L. Colonial America to 1763. Edited by Richard Balking. New York: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1949.
Simpson, John. Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Vallee, Bert L. “Alcohol in the Western World.” Scientific America, June 1, 1998.