Commercial Tobacco Production

John Rolfe arrived in Virginia in 1610 and began experimenting with tobacco cultivation by 1612. His seeds, acquired from Spanish colonies, yielded a milder plant than the native variety. Tobacco's success as a cash crop transformed Virginia. Planters, shippers, and merchants grew wealthy and met their growing demand for labor with indentured servants and with Africans forcibly brought to the colony, many of whom were experienced tobacco cultivators. A legal framework for the enslavement of Africans evolved as the 17th century wore on. Plantations spread into Indian land, causing conflict. By 1632 this area was known as Verinas (later Varina), likely named after a popular strain of tobacco.