A 



R 



matter of taste 



By 1750, tobacco production in the Chesapeake 

 colonies had grown to some 80,000 hogsheads, or 72 

 miUion pounds per year. Oronoko, for the most part, 

 was being sent to the Northern European continental 

 areas. The British seemed to prefer Virginia's sweet- 

 scented tobacco which was in great demand in that 

 country. Adam Anderson, a British economist who 

 criticized some aspects of the mercantile system, com- 

 mented that: 



The tobacco of Maryland called Oronoko being 

 stronger than that of Virginia is not said to be 

 so generally agreeable to the British taste as 

 the sweet scented tobacco of the latter colony: 

 but the Northern nations of Europe are said to 

 like it better: and they are thought to raise 

 about as much tobacco and employ near as 

 many ships as Virginia does. 

 England was now able to cut down on her tobacco 

 trade with Spain and the balance of trade took a swift 

 reversal. In fact, thousands of pounds of colonial to- 

 bacco continued each year to be re-exported to the rest 

 of the European continent. Nonetheless, the most pow- 

 erful argument in favor of tobacco trade with the 

 colonies was the ever increasing treasury as a result of 

 duties on tobacco paid to the Crown. 



evolutionary disturbances 



Just prior to the revolution, tobacco production in 

 Maryland and Virginia exceeded 100 million pounds, 

 worth about $54 million, and represented over 75 



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