about the economic consequences of over-reliance upon 

 tobacco as a staple crop. The Maryland Assembly issued 

 an edict requiring everyone who planted tobacco to 

 plant at least two acres of com. The corn requirements 

 did nothing to halt the rapid growth of tobacco. 



-ixiporting colonial labor 



When labor became a critical factor in the tobacco 

 economy of Maryland, the need was met by importa- 

 tion of white, indentured servants and Negro slaves. 

 Importation of labor was first recorded in 1642 when 13 

 slaves landed at St. Mary's City. The first slaves were 

 considered to be indentured servants, but the Assem- 

 bly's Enactment of 1667 created a permanent status of 

 servitude for Negroes and their descendants. 



Unfortunately, the supply of additional labor only 

 helped to worsen the economic situation. The tobacco 

 surplus expanded, prices continued to fall and depres- 

 sion lingered on. As tobacco prices fell, farmers began 

 packing very poor quality tobacco, "trash," into the 

 hogsheads that were being sent to England. When Brit- 

 ish merchants began to receive this poor quality leaf, 

 they complained and Parliament attempted in vain to 

 regulate the quality of tobacco consigned to Britain. In 

 1666, Virginia, Maryland and Carolina diplomatically 

 agreed to prohibit cultivation of tobacco for one year, 

 but Lord Baltimore against what he felt was a preju- 

 diced agreement, and potentially destructive to poor 

 farmers, vetoed the plan. By the end of the 17th cen- 

 tury, tobacco production in Virginia and Maryland 

 exceeded 20 million pounds annually. 



18 



