The Consequences of Virginia's Tobacco Victory

Soon after the days of Columbus, tobacco was embedded in European culture, with Spain and Portugal leading the way in cultivating and shipping it. Meanwhile, in Virginia, the struggling colony of Jamestown stopped their futile search for precious metals when they found another kind of gold in the thriving tobacco fields of the Powhatan people on Virginia's fertile coastal plains. And when John Rolfe began growing a sweeter variety of tobacco, England's share in the market surged. 

To secure England's new source of revenue, King Charles I issued his Tobacco Proclamation on January 6, 1630. The proclamation granted the Virginia colonists exclusive rights to grow and export tobacco for the English market and regulated the quality of imported tobacco through inspections.

American-grown tobacco became a lucrative cash crop as Europe's rising demand propelled the colony's thriving industry, boosting England's economy. Virginia tobacco was so in demand that it soon became used as currency, even into the early days of the newly established American States.  

However, soon the unintended and unexpected impacts came to light. The expansion of tobacco cultivation led to an elimination of forests, and land erosion, and exacerbated existing conflicts between European colonies and displaced Native Americans. Tobacco's overproduction depleted the soil nutrients and devastated Virginia's economy, widening the gap between social classes in the colony. Worst of all, the tobacco industry's heavy demand for laborers outpaced the supply of European servants, which soon led to the brutal nightmare of the African slave trade. 

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“For they that will be rich, fall into tentation and snares, and into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction.”

(1 Timothy 6:9; 1599 Geneva Bible)

King Charles and the Five Fugitive Birds

King Charles I's relationship with the Puritans in Parliament fragmented as they unceasingly demanded religious reform. His marriage to the French Catholic Queen further aggravated his rift with the radical Protestants. When he heard rumors that Parliament members encouraged Scotland to rebel against his religious authority, Charles was incensed. On January 3, 1642, the king’s Attorney General read articles of impeachment against five elected officials. Since no one in Parliament supported the charges, the king himself marched to the House of Commons the following day with dozens of armed guards to arrest the five men. 

Taking over the speaker’s chair, the king called out the names of the suspects, one by one, but no one responded. Charles looked to Speaker William Lenthall for help, but Lenthall merely bowed and said he could only reply as directed by the House of Commons, and he "cannot give any other answer than this."

Realizing his enemies had slipped away, the King said, "I see the birds have flown," and he stomped out. London's officials also refused to help the King hunt down the wanted men. When rumors circulated that Charles was sending soldiers into the city to force cooperation, men poured in to defend London against the King's army, fueling the fire for an approaching civil war and royal execution. 

Charles' actions triggered a wave of unrest that rippled across the Atlantic to the American colonies, spurring greater economic and political autonomy, and a thirst for independence from the English crown. 

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“He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

(Luke 1:52; 1599 Geneva Bible)