Summary of "American Tobacco and European Consumers"

American Tobacco had a huge impact on the European market. Before the English colonies in America began exporting tobacco, the tobacco market had been exclusive and high priced. Tobacco was considered a luxury only for the extremely rich. Because Tobacco was so easily and widely cultivated in the English colonies, they began to flood the market, increasing the amount by 160000% in a century, thereby making it affordable to even most lowly farmers, even woman and children. Tobacco became used for everything from smoking, to chewing, and even for an enema. Also, because of all of the paraphernalia needed for the various forms of tobacco consumption, the availability of tobacco caused a sudden bloom in the economy of tobacco related products. Along with the bloom in product manufacturing, came several taverns or so called "smoking clubs" were people went to consume tobacco and socialize. However, not all people went with the flow and were agreeable with the widespread use of tobacco. Most notable of all these people would be King James I who avidly protested tobacco in all it's forms saying that it was the vice of the Native Americans and that to use it was lowering the Europeans down to the level of savages. Meanwhile, several physicians protested that tobacco was a wonder drug and a cure for everything. Some even went so far as to proclaim it a "holy herb." The use of tobacco in Europe was widespread and amazing for the economy, and, while it wasn't completely unopposed, it had very few antagonists.