\ntheir goods and services, far more so than cash. In fact, it has been estimated that by the time of the American Revolution, a full two-thirds of the population of the Tidewater and Piedmont regions of Virginia grew tobacco, even after a move to grow more wheat.[1]<\/sup><\/a> The\u00a0people of colonial Virginia, both in the Tidewater and Piedmont regions, were literally growing their own money. So pervasive was the use of tobacco as currency that one observer in 1740 stated that “they have not the least occasion for paper money.”[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
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<\/a>Today we pay for goods and services with cash, but don\u2019t really pay any attention to how exactly that cash is minted or printed. So, how did they grow their money? First things first, it was a very labor intensive process requiring many workers, usually enslaved, at very specific times throughout the growing season. The first step was to germinate the plants in small seedbeds until the plants were big\u00a0and strong enough to transplant into the fields. Before the tobacco plants could be planted, field hands\u00a0had to build earthen mounds about a foot or two high and approximately three to four feet apart. This\u00a0task was the most time consuming and labor intensive since the mounds often required being rebuilt\u00a0several times throughout the season. After ensuring that the seedlings wouldn\u2019t be choked by weeds, the growing plants would have to be “primed,” meaning the lowest hanging leaves were removed to improve\u00a0overall tobacco quality. Tobacco had to be constantly monitored for pests and disease, as it is\u00a0highly susceptible; field hands went out daily to check for tobacco worms.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Assuming the tobacco survived all of these growing challenges, the harvesting season usually occurred in late summer during the dog-days of August and September. The problem was that each individual plant would be ready at a different time, meaning hands had to go out to the fields many times and gather up all the plants ready for harvest. However, if they waited too long, an early frost might kill whatever plants were left in the field. After the plant was cut, it was taken to a barn or similar place and\u00a0 hung up to be “cured.” In the very early days, the farmers would simply leave the tobacco on the ground and cover it with hay or straw, but they quickly learned that hanging the leaves was far more effective. The process of curing took about a month to complete, assuming that it was done properly and mold didn\u2019t damage any of the tobacco. It was then “prized,” or put into large casks called hogsheads. A\u00a0hogshead\u2019s weight varied slightly but was officially 1000 pounds of tobacco.[4]<\/sup><\/a> It is at this point that the tobacco would have been inspected and a tobacco note issued. This note would have been given to Henderson, or one of his employees, for store credit.<\/p>\n These hogsheads of tobacco were what were used as currency in just about any store in the colonial Chesapeake region. The credit pages of Glassford and Henderson\u2019s ledgers abound with information on the various weights of the hogsheads. For example, a customer of the Colchester store, Benoni Halley, paid the store a total of 4 hogsheads for purchases in the store\u00a0\u2013 that\u2019s roughly 2 tons of tobacco![5]<\/sup><\/a> Henderson\u00a0gave him a little over \u00a322 sterling worth of credit.[6]<\/sup><\/a> To put\u00a0this into perspective, the annual\u00a0income of American colonists was \u00a315.6, which means that Mr. Halley would have been able to live\u00a0quite comfortably off of his tobacco for that year.[7]<\/sup><\/a> With\u00a0his credit, Mr. Halley was able to buy goods ranging from cloth to rum to gunpowder.[8]<\/sup><\/a> It is\u00a0safe to say that people throughout the colonial Chesapeake were growing their own money.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/sup><\/a> Drew A. Swanson, A Golden Weed: Tobacco and Environment in the Piedmont South<\/em> (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014), 20.<\/p>\n [2]<\/sup><\/a> William Keith, “A Discourse on the Medium of Commerce,” in Collection of Papers and Other Tracts, Written Ocasionally on Various Subjects: To Which Is Prefixed, [3]<\/sup><\/a> “Tobacco: Colonial Cultivation Methods,” National Park Service Historic Jamestown, last modified unknown, accessed March 20, 2017, https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/jame\/learn\/historyculture\/tobacco-colonial-cultivation-methods.htm.<\/p>\n [4]<\/sup><\/a> National Park Service, “Tobacco: Colonial Cultivation Methods.”<\/p>\n [5]<\/sup><\/a> Alexander Henderson, et. al. Ledger 1760-1761, Colchester, Virginia<\/em> folio 23 Credit, from the John Glassford and Company Records,<\/em> Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Microfilm Reel 58 (owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies\u2019 Association).<\/p>\n [6]<\/sup><\/a> Henderson, et. al. Ledger 1760-1761<\/em> folio 23 Credit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/05\/023C-300x278.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n
\nby Way of Preface, an Essay on the Nature of a Publick Spirit<\/em> (London: Printed by and for J. Mechell, 1740), 209,
\nhttp:\/\/galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu\/servlet\/Sabin?dd=0&locID=orla57816&d1-
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\n1=0X&db=Title+Page&d6=1&ste=10&stp=DateAscend&d4=0.33&n=10&d5=d6.<\/p>\n