SETTLING NORTH AMERICA 1497 1732
PLYMOUTH ROCK SETTLEMENT
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Growing and selling indigo
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Growing and selling cotton
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Growing and selling tobacco
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Growing and selling rice
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Detailed explanation-1: -Tobacco formed the basis of the colony’s economy: it was used to purchase the indentured servants and slaves to cultivate it, to pay local taxes and tithes, and to buy manufactured goods from England.
Detailed explanation-2: -In 1612, John Rolfe, one of many shipwrecked on Bermuda, helped turn the settlement into a profitable venture. He introduced a new strain of tobacco from seeds he brought from elsewhere. Tobacco became the long awaited cash crop for the Virginia Company, who wanted to make money off their investment in Jamestown.
Detailed explanation-3: -Colonist John Rolfe brought the seeds of sweeter tobacco to Jamestown in 1610, and from this microscopic item came the first major crop of the English Atlantic trade. By the end of the 17th century, hundreds of ships left England each year to transport tobacco leaves.
Detailed explanation-4: -Tobacco was also tended by enslaved Africans, who were forcibly brought in significant numbers to Virginia starting in 1619. The need for fertile soil on which to grow the year’s crop required that the planter own large tracts of land, which had to be arduously cleared and prepared as field.